Actor Richa Chadha is thrilled about working with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali once again, with the two collaborating on the upcoming project Heeramandi. She reveals that working with Bhansali brings out the best in her. 

“When I work with him, I know how to act with my whole being — my hands, my eyes, every inch of my body. And it’s difficult to act within that grammar because you can’t do chori; you can’t mumble your dialogue and say, ‘Oh, this is my natural acting’. You can’t have bad diction. You have to enunciate. So, I really enjoy working with him and I’m absolutely in love with him,” says Chadha, who previously collaborated with the National Film Award winner in the 2013 hit film Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela. 

The 36-year-old agrees that working with the filmmaker can be challenging and requires an artiste to step out of their comfort zone, but she sees it as a “pleasure rather than pressure”.

As she puts it: “I am happy to sublimate to a culturally literate man like him. When he gives you input — about anything from a dance to a song — he’s giving it to you from a lived experience. He knows the difference between Kathak and Kathakali, which half the directors won’t know.” 

Chadha also values the filmmaker’s collaborative approach and willingness to hear an artiste’s interpretation of roles. “It is a place of respect where he asks, ‘How do you feel about this?’ or ‘How do you think?’ And for me, it’s exciting when I see a filmmaker who’s excited by my interpretation of roles, not just how they’re written on paper,” she ends.