‘Salman Khan stood by me even when I messed up’: Sanjay Leela Bhansali calls actor his only Bollywood friend despite Inshallah getting shelved

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has worked with actors like Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit among others. However, besides loving his actors and the characters that he creates, Sanjay said that he can only call Salman his friend. Despite their differences, Sanjay said that Salman always checks on him and informs him when Sanjay messes up. The filmmaker was supposed to direct Salman and Alia Bhatt in Inshallah but the film was scrapped.

In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Sanjay said, “I love my actors. With actors, your relationship should not be just of friends; you have to love your actors, you have to love your characters that you’re creating. The only person I’m still friends with is Salman.” The filmmaker said that even though their film Inshallah was shelved, Salman did not stop talking to him. He said, “Even if a project didn’t happen, he stands by me. He’ll call me, he’ll care for me. ‘Are you okay, bro? You’ve goofed up, you’ve messed up.’”

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Sanjay Leela Bhansali said that he enjoys Salman Khan’s humour and even though the duo have not collaborated on many films, it doesn’t bother Salman. “That is what a true friend is all about. At work, we may have had our moments and things might not have fallen into place, but after one month, he’s calling me, and I’m calling him, and we talk. That is a friend. In that sense, I’m fortunate enough to have that friend who, once in 6 months, we’ll speak, and we’ll start exactly from where we left off. But mostly, I love all of them when I’m working with them.”

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Salman Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali have worked together in Khamoshi, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Saawariya. In 2019, the duo was set to reunite after 12 years for a project called Inshallah, with Alia Bhatt as the female lead. However, the project was shelved due to creative differences.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s latest show Heeramandi is currently streaming on Netflix.