Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi's first song Dholida made the whole of India dance to the tunes of Garba with Alia Bhatt giving one of the best dance performances of her career. Recently, at the Berlin International Film Festival, where Gangubai Kathiawadi was screened, Sanjay Leela Bhansali heaped praise at the actress and revealed that he would like Alia's Dholida to be played when he is breathing his last.
Praising the actor for her dancing skills, especially in the recently released song Dholida, the filmmaker said that Alia gave him a shot that he would like to take to his grave. “I wasn’t aware that Alia was such a good dancer, but when she danced on Dholida, I thought, here was an actor who finally transcended. And it’s a very gooseflesh moment for me to even talk and think about it that you transcend where you are and forget who is in front of you or the camera. She became one with the character and expressed all the angst and the anguish that the character goes through in that one song."
He then left Alia emotional as he further said, "It’s a shot that I will take to my grave. If there’s any shot that I want to be played when I breathe my last, it would be Alia doing that shot. It is the best thing I have seen an actor do in a very long long time."
SLB also revealed how Alia became Gangubai very naturally. “From the time I started shooting, I never gave any instructions to Alia. I never told her to do it in a certain way. The character just came naturally to her. So it was a great working relationship where we weren’t down each other’s throats by giving specific instructions. I gave her the freedom to think for herself. Alia was let on her own to be and find the real Gangubai and she breathed a beautiful life into the character," he said.
He further added, “It’s a directors delight to see the girl who comes out of the car at the studio is not Alia and it Gangu. She walked like Gangu on the sets. She is the most gorgeous girl I have ever met. A beautiful girl, a beautiful actor and even beautiful human being."
(Source: Instagram)
