Bhansali loves his song-and-dance Bollywood

The new wave of realistic cinema shouldn't undermine the "Bollywood stamp of melodramas", says Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the unapologetic maker of opulent, over-the-top movies such as Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas and Saawariya.

"I feel every filmmaker is in a great mood right now! There's a new wave, a new dimension in the industry ... but I only hope that in this new wave, we do not lose our great Bollywood stamp of melodramas, song-dance rituals, classic literature and all that form the very distinct Bollywood style of filmmaking," Bhansali said.

"There's a tendency of the young filmmaker to look down upon the traditional Bollywood film, the classical kind of filmmaking ... that shouldn't be there. Running with a handheld camera through the lanes is as difficult as any other shot," Bhansali said.