Alia Bhatt locked herself in her room when Inshallah stopped, reveals Sanjay Leela Bhansali; ‘She broke down’

A few years ago, Alia Bhatt and Salman Khan were supposed to star together in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Inshallah. Sadly, the film was shelved, leaving many cinephiles heartbroken who wanted to see the two stars together on the big screen. But it wasn’t just his fans who were sad to hear that the film was shelved. According to SLB, the National Award-winning actress was so moved that she locked herself in a room.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reported India, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was talking about finding the purity in actors as people when it comes to them. This is when he went back and remembered the time when he was doing Inshallah with Alia Bhatt and suddenly, it stopped. “She broke down, she burst into tears, screamed, screamed, screamed, locked herself in the room,” the filmmaker said.

But a week later, he called her and said that she was playing the lead female role in his magnum opus Gangubai Kathiawadi. At first Bhatt was doubtful whether she would be able to play the role or not. The Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani actress told him, “From LA where I had to play the character, I have come to Kamathipura. How am I? I don’t know this character.” This is when the Padmaavat producer calmed her down, and asked her to trust him. He then worked his way up to being a director and used her personality to bring out what he wanted for the character in the National Award-winning film.

Soon after, Alia Bhatt started enjoying playing Gangubai and ‘grew into the role’. Bhansali said, the actress got so lost in it that even today she sometimes talks like the character. “It’s a huge part of it and it’s very beautiful,” he said. Having said that, Bhatt and Bhansali are set to work together again in the upcoming film Love & War, which also stars Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal.

Speaking to the same publication, the filmmaker said that he wants to give his all to the film and the actors as it is an important and difficult film. For those unaware, the epic love triangle is expected to hit theaters in March 2026.