New Delhi, April 29 : Acclaimed filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has teamed up with designer Shabinaa Khan to co-produce the interestingly titled movie "Rowdy Rathore", which is his first film with Bollwood star Akshay Kumar.

For the first time Bhansali is indulging in an out-and-out actioner that will also star Sonakshi Sinha.

Salman Khan the hunk with a Golden heart has gone against the wind due to his comment on the Sanjay Leela Bhansali flick Guzaarish. Recently, Salman Khan had said that not even a mosquito had gone to see the flick. Now something like this coming from a man of Salman's stature was quite a shock for everyone connected with the flick, to say the least.

Guzaarish, the Sanjay Leela Bhansali flick with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead roles got involved in some controversy or the other ever since its promos went on air and it was gearing up for a release.

There was a controversy regarding the puffing scene and some tussle had to be faced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali on other counts as well and now a fresh problem have come up.

Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has struck the right chords yet again. With Guzaarish being declared a hit, the director claims that the people who had avoided him after the failure of Saawariya have returned back to his life and it is this fact that gives him immense pleasure presently. Not only has Sanjay Leela Bhansali won back the love of his own people, but also that of the audience.

Mumbai, Nov 24 - Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, often accused of making overtly flamboyant and whimsical movies, says his films create the world he lives in and are about crossing the boundaries of mainstream cinema. "Guzaarish", his latest offering, is about the pain and isolation he faced after "Saawariya", he says.

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's latest offering Guzaarish may have run against controversies of being plagiarized, but that does not mean that the director will stop talking about his film which is being touted as one of the biggest releases of this year. In a statement to the media, Sanjay Leela Bhansali says that there have to be people in the society who will look after the interests of the mentally and physically challenged and he would like to play that role.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been worried over a particularly steamy scene in her upcoming film, Guzaarish . She has been trying to influence director Sanjay Leela Bhansali into removing that scene from the movie. The director may just get to oblige her if he feels that the scene in question is not quite relevant to the storyline.

Aishwarya has apparently had a debate with Bhansali over retaining the scene and the director does not wish his film to be dragged into unnecessary controversies.

Beauty queen turned actress Aishwarya Rai had got a big boost in her career when she played the role of beautiful and bubbly ‘Nandini’ in filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Now, she is doing her third film with the filmmaker and has been able to impress him once again.

Mumbai, Oct 27: Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who has made a third film with his muse Aishwarya Rai, says she is not just beautiful but has a very sharp mind too. He also believes that the kind of humiliation he has gone through in life is important for an artist.

Film: "Guzaarish"; Music Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali; Lyricists: A. M. Turaz and Vibhu Puri; Singers: KK, Shail Hada, Kunal Ganjawala, Rakesh Pandit, Francois, Vibhavari Joshi, Sunidhi Chauhan, Harshdeep Kaur and Shankar Mahadevan; Rating: ***

Even though "Guzaarish" is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's debut foray into music direction, the filmmaker-turned-composer has done an astounding job, aptly capturing the mood and feel of the film that stars Hrithik Roshan as a paraplegic and Aishwarya Rai as his nurse.

The soundtrack boasts of 10 original tracks and no remixes.

To impress Sanjay Leela Bhansali is no cakewalk, considering the fact that he is not at all a peoples’ man and is also, very out-spoken when it comes to calling a spade a spade. And to top it all, everyone is well acquainted and petrified of this. No wonder the debutant singer Jhanvi Shimnakar was quite nervous when Bhansali singled her out to sing for him.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming next, Guzaarish starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai begins shooting on Thursday July 30th in Filmcity, Mumbai. But before the first shot of his new biggie is canned, Bhansali has headed off to Rajasthan for seeking blessings at the Ajmer dargah.

So far you’ve been reading very strange reports linking Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s latest film Guzaarish to all sorts of Hollywood films.

But here’s the truth. Bhansali’s Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer Guzaarish which will be shot at a stretch in Goa in July and August to capture the monsoonal melody and romance of the place, is actually a tribute to the voice of Lata Mangeshkar.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has now officially turned composer with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer 'Guzaarish'. However, till a few days back, there were feelers that Ismail Darbar may make a re-entry into the Sanjay Leela Bhansali camp. The question making the rounds was - 'Is Ismail Darbar going to compose music for 'Chenab Gandhi' and/or 'Guzaarish'?'

The big news doing the rounds is that Sanjay Leela Bhansali has made announcement about the name of his upcoming venture, which stars the 'Jodhaa Akbar' pair.

Yes, we're talking about Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan. They are once again ready to rock the screen with their perfect chemistry.

The film has been named 'Guzaarish', which will hit theatres by the end of 2009.

According to reports, Guzaarish is the remake of the Hollywood film, 'The Prestige', which is directed by Christopher Nolan.

The big news doing the rounds is that Harman Baweja has been replaced by John Abraham in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming film ‘Chenab Gandhi’.

This will be Bhansali's next production after ‘Saawariya’ and will be a period film.

Harman was signed for the film in 2008.

But after his debut film ‘Love Story 2050’ and later, ‘Victory’ failed to impress audiences, the producers have had a rethink.

Ace Bollywood film producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali said that he always desired to work with multi-talented actor Hrithik Roshan.

This time, the master filmmaker has done what he actually wanted.

Bhansali has signed Hrithik Roshan and his most-favored actress - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for the lead roles in his upcoming film.

Both Ash and Hrithik have already created wonders together in ‘Dhoom-2’ and ‘Jodhaa Akbar’.

If reports are to be believed then Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai Bachchan might be seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next untitled project along with multi-talented actor Hrithik Roshan.

Hrithik and Ash, who already worked in Dhoom-2 and Jodha Akbar, have proved to be a formidable pair on screen.

In fact, Bhansali liked the chemistry between the dashing couple, and thought of taking the duo in his film.

Though Sanjay has worked with ‘Bachchan Bahu’ earlier also, but it would be the director's first film with Hrithik.

Ace Bollywood film producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s adaptation of Albert Roussel’s opera ‘Padmavati’ has received a standing ovation at its premiere on Friday at the highly esteemed Theatre du Chatelet.

“I wasn’t completely familiar with the opera but the films I had done before, the preciseness with which I had made them helped me immensely,” said Bhansali over phone from Paris.

“Sometimes being a perfectionist is a boon,” he added.

Mumbai: Bollywood’s top director Sanjay Leela Bhansali showed appreciation towards audience for seeing the movie in spite of awful reviews.

Saawariya debuts together with the enormously glorified Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Om Shanti Om" on last Friday.

Regardless of the film’s excellent opening, its Indian collection chop down aggressively after a week’s time as critics went down heavily on the film for its thin story and loose grip on the plot.