A source tells us, “Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a man of idiosyncrasies and eccentricities. He is known to be obsessed with his muses. For example, he was fascinated by Aishwarya Rai and always wanted to see her in an Indian avatar. He thought she shouldn’t go to the West. He wants all his heroines to have an old-world charm, which is evident from Sonam’s look in Saawariyaa. He is known to give his heroines a hard time with his demands. His behaviour is reminiscent of Subhash Ghai’s obsession with his heroines, giving them all names from M (for instance, Mahima Chaudhary was Ritu Chaudhary, but he changed her name to Mahima when she made her Bollywood debut in Pardes.) SLB’s behaviour is growing weirder day by day. His demands are unreasonable. He is the only person who thinks Monikangna looks like Mona Lisa. Most people don't see any resemblance at all, because Mona Lisa had a full, rounded face while Moni’s face is angular and long.”

The source adds, “Monikangna is not very pleased with his idea. She has been an independent model and does not like his dictating terms to her. She shortened her name to Moni to further her international fashion circuit aspirations, but she is still known as Monikangna. Her uniquely Indian name is her identity, and it gives her a classy, exotic and mysterious edge. She is proud of it, and a name like Mona Lisa would sound very wannabe and cheap.”

Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Monikangna Dutta were unavailable for comment.