Sanjay Leela Bhansali Says He "Froze" When He Met Deepika Padukone For The First Time: 'So Much Beauty...'

Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika Padukone have delivered some of the biggest hits in Bollywood. The actor-director combo has worked on three films together which were grand and opulent. In a recent interview, the director spoke about his reaction when he met the actor for the first time. He recalled being frozen and mesmerized by her beauty.

In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Sanjay Leela Bhansali spoke about how he met Deepika Padukone for the first time at her house. He recalled that the actor opened the door for him and he was taken aback by her beauty. He said, “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, 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.”

Bhansali added that it was in that instant that he knew he could “mould” Padukone to become the character that he had in mind for his film. The director continued, “Then I realized I was at the right place at the right time because I knew this girl would be moulded, would be taken somewhere. It’s your instinct of how you connect. Your soul has to connect to their soul.”

Bhansali and Padukone’s first film was Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela. The movie also marked the first time Padukone shared the screen with Ranveer Singh. Apart from them, the movie also starred Supriya Pathak, Richa Chadda, Sharad Kelkar, Gulshan Devaiah, Barkha Bisht Sengupta, and Abhimanyu Singh. After Ram-Leela, they worked on Bajirao Mastani. This film also saw Padukone and Singh share the screen. Their last film was Padmaavat which was released in 2018. The movie starred Padukone, Singh, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Jim Sarbh in important roles.

On the work front, Padukone will be next seen in Singham Again. The Rohit Shetty directorial is all set to release in theatres on November 1. The movie boasts of a star-studded cast which includes Singh, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, and Akshay Kumar. Meanwhile, Bhansali is currently working on Love And War which will star Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, and Ranbir Kapoor.