Why SLB 'froze' on meeting Deepika Padukone for first time
Acclaimed filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali recently opened up about meeting actor Deepika Padukone for the first time. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, he said he was "mesmerized" by her beauty and voice. "When I met Deepika when I went to her house for the first time, she opened the door. I froze by the beauty of the woman, by the eyes," he said.
'Realized I was at the right place at right time...'
Bhansali further gushed over Padukone, saying, "When I realized that there's so much of subtlety, so much of fragility, there's so much of beauty. She started talking, and I realized her voice was beautiful." "Then I realized I was at the right place at the right time because I knew this girl would be molded... It's your instinct of how you connect. Your soul has to connect to their soul," he added.
Bhansali and Padukone's successful collaborations in Bollywood
Bhansali and Padukone have worked together on three films so far. Their first collaboration was Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela in 2013, which also starred Ranveer Singh, Supriya Pathak, Richa Chadha, Sharad Kelkar, Gulshan Devaiah, Barkha Bisht Sengupta, and Abhimanyu Singh. They then went on to make Bajirao Mastani in 2015, and their last collaboration was the 2018 film Padmaavat.
Upcoming projects of Bhansali and Padukone
Padukone will next be seen in Singham Again, which releases on November 1. The film is directed by Rohit Shetty and has an ensemble cast including Singh, Tiger Shroff, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ajay Devgn, Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar, and Arjun Kapoor. Meanwhile, Bhansali's next is Love & War with Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, and Vicky Kaushal. The film releases on March 20, 2026.
