Shekhar Suman praises Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the ace filmmaker who gave us memorable hits like “Devdas” and “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.” Shekhar defends Sanjay’s anger issues and likens him to Raj Kapoor.
Also, he is grateful that Sanjay gave work to his son Adhyayan Suman, who was struggling for almost 13 years and later became suicidal.
Shekhar Suman and his son are part of “Heeramandi”
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s OTT debut “Heeramandi” has both Shkahar SUman and his son playing crucial roles. While Shekhar plays Nawab Zulfikar, Adhyayan fits into the role of Zulfiqar Ahmed. The Father-son duo have powerful characters to portray in the magnum opus with a stellar cast like Manisha Koirala, Richa Chadha, Sonakshi Sinha, and Aditi Rao Hydari.
The Sumans play sophisticated roles in the series that is set to stream from May 1 on Netflix. Shekhar Suman opened up about how “all doors closed” for his son long back. Adhyayan was in a “deep abyss,” says Suman, and Bhansali gave him this vital chance.
“It was the worst phase of his life,” said Shekhar, and called Bhansali’s offer a godsend. “This is providence… This cannot happen to anybody who stayed behind, lagged by 12 to 13 years with no work, going through the worst phase of one’s life.” Adhyayan was suicidal and gave up because of lack of work, “Jab tak audience aapko accept nahi karegi, aapko yeh lady rent hog.”
Adhyayan Suman is grateful to Sanjay
When Adhyayan thought, “Ab kuch nahi ho sakta,” hope came in the form of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He said that there were many rumours about him in the industry and people said false things. “They wrote I was difficult to handle and didn’t come to sets on time. But I took my work seriously.”
He was also in the news for his relationship with Kangana Ranaut. However, this negative perception cost him work for almost 13 years.
He expressed that maybe even Sanjay Leela Bhansali had such negative thoughts until he worked with him and saw the truth directly. Hence, he is grateful to the director for putting his faith in his talents.
In the historical drama “Heeramandi,” he plays an arrogant nawab by the name of Zorawar Ali Khan and acts only guided by self-interest. Interestingly, this is also his father’s first time working with Sanjay. Shekhar was considered for the role of Chunri Babu in the 2002 period epic Devdas, which eventually went to Jackie Shroff.
Suman addresses Bhansali’s rage issues
Shekhar rubbished all rumours of Bhansali’s anger issues while shooting. He defended the director saying that most creative minds have a temper, and named Raj Kapoor, Mehboob Khan, and K. Asif to make his point.
“Why does he get angry? He’s not a madman. He is a perfectionist who gets impatient with everybody else for not being at their level,” Shekhar Suman said.
