Nana Patekar was not convinced with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s direction in Khamoshi: The Musical, which led to many arguments during the shoot of the film. In a new interview with The Lallantop, Nana detailed a particular scene and why he thought it would not work. In the film, Nana played the character of a deaf man called Joseph. (Also read: Sanjay Leela Bhansali reacts to the similarities between Khamoshi and CODA)
What Nana said
In the interview, when Nana was asked to reveal what led to the fallout between him and Bhansali, the actor initially did not want to speak about the topic. He then added in Hindi, “It wasn’t just one argument, there were many. But Sanjay is a good director. In the scene, my wife has a heart attack. I’m playing cards with my back to her. She’s behind me. We are both deaf, of course. How would I know what’s happening behind my back? Sanjay wanted me to turn. He said that there is an unspoken bond that a couple shares, but this wasn’t a strong enough reason for me to understand the scene. I said I needed a solid reason.”
More details
He then went on to add, “Perhaps I stepped out of line. But I feel relationships shouldn’t be limited to work. We should remain friends even after our work together is over. That’s how I would prefer it to be. Films come and go, but our memories stay with us forever.”
Khamoshi: The Musical, which released in 1996, was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut film as a director. It starred Salman Khan and Manisha Koirala in lead roles. Nana’s character Joseph and his wife Flavy Braganza (played by Seema Biswas), were both deaf, who lived in Goa. They played the parents of Manisha’s character, Annie. The film did not perform well at the box office but is often regarded as ahead of its time.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s most recently directed project was Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, which released on Netflix last month. Based on the red-light district called Heera Mandi in Lahore (now in present-day Pakistan) during the pre-partition era, Sanjay’s magnum opus chronicles the lives of courtesans in Heera Mandi and their relationships with Nawabs at that time. He will be next directing Love and War, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal.