Sanjay Leela Bhansali is more than a filmmaker — he’s a visionary who paints with emotion, light, and silence. While his heroines have long captivated audiences with their strength, poise, and tragedy, it’s his male protagonists who quietly anchor his stories with aching vulnerability, fierce intensity, and poetic pain.
From Devdas to the upcoming Love & War, Bhansali has crafted a unique, emotionally rich version of masculinity — one that is as tender as it is tormented.
Salman Khan: The Sensitive Lover
Salman Khan’s Sameer in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is unafraid to love deeply. Not the stoic archetypes; he weeps, he yearns, and he longs — turning romance into a form of worship.
Shah Rukh Khan: The Tragic Soul
Shah Rukh Khan’s Devdas redefined the image of the heartbroken lover. In Bhansali’s hands, Devdas wasn’t just a man spiralling — he was a poem in decay, layered with guilt, loss, and helplessness.
Ranveer Singh: The Warrior with a Heart
Ranveer Singh’s Bajirao in Bajirao Mastani was fierce in battle, but fractured in love. Bhansali allowed his bravado to coexist with raw emotion, making the warrior’s tears as powerful as his sword.
Hrithik Roshan: The Stillness of Suffering
Hrithik Roshan’s Ethan Mascarenhas in Guzaarish offered a radical take on male vulnerability — a magician paralyzed, yet emotionally alive. Through Ethan, Bhansali stripped away physical action to spotlight internal strength.
Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal: The New Age Men of Love & War
With Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal set to lead Love & War, Bhansali seems poised to revisit his signature themes — emotional conflict, loyalty, desire — through a contemporary yet classically styled lens. Their early look signals a return to grand tragic love stories, with layered masculinity at the heart of it all.