‘Froze’ at first sight: Sanjay Leela Bhansali reveals how he felt when he first met Deepika Padukone

One of the most artistic filmmakers of Hindi cinema, Sanjay Leela Bhansali spoke about how he felt when he met Deepika Padukone for the first time.

In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Bhansali admitted that when he visited Padukone’s home for the first time, he ‘froze’ when she opened the door. He was stunned both by her beauty and her voice.

Bhansalisaid, "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, when I realised that there's so much of subtlety, so much of fragility, there's so much of beauty. She started talking, and I realised her voice was beautiful."

He added, “Then I realised 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.”

The filmmaker and actress worked together for the first time in Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, released in 2013.Ranveer Singh was cast opposite Padukone in this film.

Supriya Pathak, Richa Chadda, Sharad Kelkar, Gulshan Devaiah, Barkha Bisht Sengupta, and Abhimanyu Singh were also a part of the prolific cast. Priyanka Chopra had a cameo in the song Ram Chahe Leela.

After that, they worked together in Bajirao Mastani in 2015. This film also starred Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Tanvi Azmi, Vaibhav Tatwawaadi, Milind Soman, Mahesh Manjrekar and Aditya Pancholi.

Padmaavat was the last film that they collaborated on, which was released in 2018. The star cast of this film includedShahid Kapoor opposite Padukone and Singh as a villain. Amongst others were Aditi Rao Hydari, Jim Sarbh, Raza Murad, and Anupriya Goenka, playing the most significant characters.