Locale Lad
In the age of candy-floss crass, a man wants to remake Devdas. In the time of marionette-like dances in Zurich, he wants to keep the action at home. Instead of DKNY, his heroines wear cholis. Two films old-Khamoshi marked him in 1996 and this year's box-office sizzler Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam has made him-Sanjay Bhansali is being talked of as a person who takes risks to Indianise films.

A graduate of Pune's Film and Television Institute of India, Bhansali is fanatical about detail. He will roam Gujarat for the right material for a costume or scout folk singers to work authentic lyrics for songs. The multi-dimensional director is equally at home visualizing songs, directing art and breaking down a shot to the bone. Ramesh Sippy raves about each scene in Hum Dil being "a monument". Bhansali acknowledges the praise. "I've always lived with visuals in my head," he says. His father was a producer-director, but didn't make the mark. Bhansali Mark II has a chance to show off for both.