Mumbai: Bollywood has witnessed several high-profile fallouts over the years between actors, directors, and even creative collaborators. Now, one such clash that has left the industry buzzing is between filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and music composer Ismail Darbar.
Ismail Darbar, who rose to fame with his chartbuster compositions in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas, was set to reunite with Bhansali for the filmmaker’s Netflix series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. However, their partnership soured after an article claimed that Darbar was the “backbone” of the project, a statement that allegedly upset Bhansali.
In a fresh interview with journalist Vickey Lalwani, Ismail Darbar opened up about the fallout, revealing that he left Heeramandi after sensing growing tension. He said, “After that article came out, Sanjay thought I planted it.”
This led to a confrontation between Bhansali and Darbar, “I said, ‘Look, if I have to break the news, I won’t be scared of you; I’ll say it outright that yes, I said it…’ I still don’t know who that man was, but he put that news out and Sanjay found out. He called me into his office and asked, ‘Ismail, how could you say that?’ After that he said, ‘Alright, let it go.’ After that I understood that ‘let it go’ really meant that sooner or later he would put me in a position where I would leave Heeramandi myself. I left before that could happen.”
When asked if he would work with Bhansali again, Ismail Darbar made a strong statement: “Even if he offers me Rs 100 crore, I’ll tell him, ‘Pehli fursat mein chale jaa yahan se.’”
The composer also claimed that Bhansali’s PR had once instructed media outlets not to interview him. Darbar added that if he had composed the music for Heeramandi, he would have made it “immortal.”
Now, all eyes are on Sanjay Leela Bhansali to see how he reacts to Ismail Darbar’s explosive remarks.
