Actor Shekhar Suman, who was supposed to portray the iconic role of Chunni Babu in Devdas, had destiny play its own game, leading to Jackie Shroff eventually taking on the part. Shekhar has now joined hands with the filmmaker for his magnum opus, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, which releases today on an OTT platform. In an exclusive interview with The Free Press Journal, the actor opens up about his experience working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, why men are important in the series despite being a female oriented one and more.
When asked about working with SLB, he shares, “There’s no two way about his genius. He is not just a filmmaker, who is focused with the story but he oversees every department indeed. He is so good with everything. One can see how good he hones his craft over these years. He is as impatient as he used to be in his first film. He loses his cool and there’s a reason for it. The level he has attained, I guess, no one has reached that level of creativity.”
“His temperaments in proportionate to your competence or incompetence. If he asks to do something, how well can deliver. I would get angry as a filmmaker. I remember, when I was directing Heartless, I was so impatient too,” he adds.
However, Heeramandi is headlined by a bunch of women but men do have important roles throughout, claims the actor. “I feel, in today’s time, for a story like this, significance is important than the length of the role. Without the men, the story wouldn’t move forward. They act as a catalyst,” he reveals.
On a concluding note, he spills the beans on his plans to direct. “I would love to direct but I haven’t come across a script after Heartless that I would love. Since I have done Heeramandi now, I have a couple of similar ideas. I am hugely inspired by SLB. I would be something of that level,” he signs off.
