Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi’ has gone viral. The director recently revealed some moving behind-the-scenes stories in which he became enraged with Richa Chadha.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali lashed out at Richa Chadha while filming the song, Masoom Dil Hai Mera

In the interview, Bhansali related a moving story about how the song Masoom Dil Hai Mera, which features Richa Chadha, came to be. He could still clearly remember the day of the shoot, when he was not satisfied with the actress’s performance. When Bhansali’s annoyance with Richa reached a breaking point, he became enraged and slapped her. The actress also started to feel upset after this. In his own words: 

“That was a special moment. But unka baith nahi raha tha. She was trying, but I wasn’t getting what I wanted. After a point, I got a little upset. I said, ‘You’ve rehearsed it, but it’s still not falling in place, you’re not getting the state of mind’. I got a little angry, and she became upset as well.”

Sanjay Leela Bhansali says Richa’s real anger and humiliation made the song really special

Richa was able to convey the rage and humiliation required to represent the emotions of her on-screen character, “Lajjoo,” which is why Sanjay Leela Bhansali described the scene as exceptional. The director continued by saying that Masoom Dil Hai Mera ended up being unique because of this infrequent occasion, out of all the songs he has shot to date. SLB stated that Richa was aware that recording the song was more crucial than scurrying off the set.

“The anger on her face was so special. That moment was a result of what I said to her and what she said to me. In all the songs I’ve shot, big numbers, this is one of the rare moments of the actor feeling the humiliation of the scene that she went through rather than feeling the humiliation of me getting angry and saying, ‘How many takes will you want?’ The anger was from both sides, but you need to be in that state of mind. Another actor might have stormed off the set in anger, but Richa and I both understood that the shot is more important, the song is more important, the scene is more important, the series is more important than either of us.”

Sanjay Leela Bhansali shares that he and Richa apologised to one another after the shot

Heeramandi’s director also stated that after the shot, he and Richa hugged it out. Following the scene, he said, the entire crew applauded and then expressed regret to one another. SLB also discussed how crucial it is to “arrive at that moment.” When SLB was watching the show, he remembered the exact scene as follows:

“I went and hugged her, and we forgot about all that had happened before the shot. But sometimes, you have to arrive at that moment. An actor has to be ready to arrive at that moment. A director has to wait and bring the actor to that moment. When I was watching it, I thought, ‘She’s actually crying’. She held on to every beat. Till the last moment, she didn’t let go of that anger and frustration.”