/> The feeling that Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya has not been appreciated within the film industry is more than amply dispelled by a host of topnotch filmmakers and actors who have fallen in love with the film.

Rakeysh Mehra can't stop raving about Saawariya. "We've a very special film in Saawariya. Some films have shelf life. Others have boxoffice life.The really lucky ones have both. Saawariya is a film that will be looked back on as a turning point in our cinema.

I was on location in Jaipur during the premiere of Saawariya but I caught it later. It is one of its kind. I was simply blown away by the film. My first reaction was of jealousy. Followed by admiration and respect for its maker."

He dismisses the critical backlash as predictable. "Saawariya opens up a new genre. For long we've made films on suspended reality. Now new genres are opening up.

Saawariya goes with full-on lip-sync songs from characters who look like they'd like to sing to each other. Suddenly we no longer have a cop in uniform bursting into a song to his girlfriend. I think the musical has matured with Saawariya. My Rang De Basanti is again part of the transition.

Like Saawariya it re-defines the musical genre. Some of us who take giant steps ahead in cinema are bound to get hurt, " he says about the savage criticism of the film.

However having fallen in love with Bhansali's tapestry of artistry, Mehra thinks the film's length may perhaps have gone against it.

"I think it's half an hour too long for the story that it has to tell. I'd consider that a structural flaw. Otherwise I'm completely enamoured of the film."