Sanjay Leela Bhansali is constantly searching for new horizons to conquer.After having achieved the summits of excellence as a director and a music composer he has just launched his own music label Bhansali Music to promote new talent.
Says Bhansali, “I suppose this journey into launching my own music label is natural progression from being an ardent fan of Lataji to directing films , then composing music for my own films. Bhansali Music will endeavour to bring music talent into the film industry. Believe me, there is no dearth of good singers. All they need is proper guidance and the right platform.”
Sanjay’s fascination with Lataji began when he was a child. “I remember as a child I’d read up every titbit and biographical morsel that was served up in the back of the long-playing records…I’d hungrily scan magazines for her picture with music directors rather than the heroes and heroines…For me every detail about her was precious…I’ve always been intrigued by this diminutive woman with the most powerful voice in the world.”
Bhansali feels the depths of emotions expressed in that exceptional voice are not easy to fathom let alone explain “ The mystery that she created through the powerful texture of her voice is the most precious mystery of the universe. So many deep emotions expressed with such a straight face! She must be so rich from inside to be able to express feminine beauty in ALL its shades. How she takes up the most complex notes and makes them sound so effortless is something I’ve never understood. How did she do it? Was she as powerful as a person as she was as an artiste? I don’t know….”
Bhansali’s fascination for the Nightingale is endless. “Lataji was very mystical…mythical for me. The voice quality is so exceptional she has never been a real person for me. I can’t imagine any actual human being being capable of such flawlessness…No,I’ve never been tempted to examine the actual person beyond the persona. Her work will take me 13 lifetimes to unravel the enigma of her creativity. The person can wait…Sometimes she’s so maternal, sometimes so devotional…. Then so sensual…. Lata Mangeshkar epitomizes so many different things to so many millions…”
To know the person behind the voice is task that Bhansali is not up to. “Very few have dared to cross the sanctity of her music and try to know the real person. That aura she wore like a second sleeve is so overpowering… I met her when she came to the recording studio to sing R.D. Burman’s Kuch na kaho in 1942 A Love Story . I was behind her when she came out of her car. I froze. I just kept looking at here. She looked so beautiful in her diamonds and white sari. When she was escorted to the lift I followed behind. Obviously I didn’t have the courage to get into the lift with her. I ran up the stairs as fast as possible…As I watched her sing I couldn’t believe that any human being could generate so much beauty harmony and goodness through her vocal chord. When she left people outside who had nothing to do with the recording, just stood up spontaneously. That’s the kind of aura she possesses. How can such a frail figure can exude such power! Either people dive for her feet or stand up in supreme reverence…”
Then Bhansali finally got an opportunity to meet her personally. “You took me to meet her. Those two hours with her will remain with me forever.The way she spoke, listened, paused and ruminated…will remain with me forever. Whenever I passed her home in Peddar Road I wanted to get one glimpse of her on that famous little balcony of her home.”
Bhansali feels incomplete as a filmmaker . “I kept hoping maybe one day she’ll sing for my film. My work is so incomplete without her voice…Once she came THIS close to actually singing for my film. She drove towards the recording studio where we waited like excited schoolboys with an aarti ka thali, but she had to turn back because of heavy rains….What is not meant to be, won’t be… Through her songs she taught me that excellence perfection and beauty have no full stops. We’ve found it long back in her voice. She kept searching for it all her life.”
