‘Pheli fursat main chala ja…’ Awez Darbar’s father Ismail Darbar breaks silence on fallout with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, reveals why he won’t work with him again

Music composer Ismail Darbar is known for delivering some of Hindi cinema’s most iconic songs for movies such as Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, and Kisna, among others. Recently, he gave insights into his long-standing professional relationship with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and how their partnership turned bitter around the time of Heeramandi.

 

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Ismail Darbar recalls his ugly fallout with ‘egoistic’ Sanjay Leela Bhansali

In a conversation with Vickey Lalwani on his YouTube channel, Darbar talked about working with Bhansali on Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Their professional dynamic changed after a media article lauded Darbar’s music as the “backbone” of Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. The reports stated that while the show featured a star-studded cast, it was Darbar’s music that was strongest out of all. After Bhansali came across the piece, he assumed that Darbar had planted the story himself, as per reports, which created fallout between them.

Ismail recalled, “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 Bhansali ever tried to call him back, Ismail said, “Why would he? He understood — when the backbone is Ismail Darbar: I was the backbone in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam… I was the backbone in Devdas too. I’m not the one saying this — his PR said it, it was on the front pages. So I had seen his ego. Fear had crept in that I work so hard and he takes the credit.”

Darbar also mentioned that he didn’t like the show Heeramandi. “It wasn’t because my music wasn’t in it. One thing I will say: if I had done the music for this Heeramandi, I would have made it immortal. What I had prepared, Sanjay wouldn’t even have been able to reach that level — this I know.” He said.

 

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Darbar also said that he was about to collaborate with Bhansali on Guzaarish, but the rift they had during Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam had already worsened during Devdas. Furthermore, he said that Bhansali had instructed the PR teams to not take his interviews.

According to him, he and Bhansali have had a 100% fallout. “Today, if Sanjay comes and says to me, “Please do the music for my film, I’ll give you Rs 100 crore,’ I’ll tell him, ‘Pehli fursat mein chale jaa yahan se.” Darbar said.