Sanjay Leela Bhansali: 'Bollywood needs to keep traditions'

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has criticised the new wave of filmmakers for neglecting Bollywood tradition.

The director is best known for lavish melodramas such as Devdas and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

He told DNA India: "There's a new wave, a new dimension in the industry but I only hope that in this new wave, we do not lose our great Bollywood stamp of melodramas, song-dance rituals, classic literature and all that form the very distinct Bollywood style of filmmaking.

"Of course, we should have different genres like songless films, experimental films, realistic films but we also must have filmmakers who make the kind of films that I make - films like Devdas; like the Bollywood musicals which the West is interested in.

"That breed of young filmmakers, able to shoot a song with lavishness, is something I am still not seeing coming in."

He added that he is keen on returning to big-scale song and dance films after experimenting in different genres with films like Guzaarish.

Other directors have commented on how the industry is changing because of young filmmakers.

Ram Gopal Varma praised actor-turned-producer Aamir Khan for making the controversial Delhi Belly.

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