‘Aishwarya Rai se mujra kara diya’: When Bhansali was ridiculed for ‘Nimbooda’

4 min readNew DelhiJul 30, 2026 04:37 PM IST Aishwarya Rai in 'Nimbooda' from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known as one of the most prolific filmmakers of Hindi cinema but even he started with a failure with Khamoshi. His debut film, which released in 1996, bombed at the box office but he, in his own words, channelised his anger, and went ahead to make Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. The film established Aishwarya Rai as one of the most promising talents of the era. While today, the film is considered a classic by many, at the time, it was ridiculed by many, including a few who equated Aishwarya’s dance number ‘Nimbooda’ to a ‘mujra’. Back in 1999, Bhansali expressed his frustration at the workings of Indian cinema and shared with Rediff that even someone like Steven Spielberg w