The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘My protagonist is always a middle class person’

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Friday, Dec 18, 2009
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New Delhi

‘My protagonist is always a middle class person’

Madhur Tankha

Madhur Bhandarkar

NEW DELHI: Bollywood filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar wants directors to make films that relate to Indian sensibilities.

“When I made Fashion it was not to please the high and the mighty in the fashion fraternity but to establish a connection with a large middle-class audience. I want the man on the street to identify with my characters when he watches my film. My protagonist is always a middle class man or woman,” says Madhur, who himself comes from a middle class Maharashtrian family.

“Basically we are an emotional lot, we laugh and cry a lot in our daily lives. When I make a film I want the audience to feel the catharsis and pathos. At the end of the day, I want to make a film which gives the audience a chance to get a feel of the situation. When I saw Amitabh Bachchan’s Paa I was overwhelmed with emotion. Similarly, when Lok Sabha Speak- er Meira Kumar watched one of my films the other day and said she liked it I was overjoyed,” adds Madhur, who was in the Capital on Thu-rsday to attend “Focus- 2009: Third Global Summit on Entertainment and Media”.

Speaking about his background, Madhur says he is not a learned person. “I am not even a graduate and was rejected by the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune on the ground that I didn’t have a graduation degree. After some years when I became a filmmaker, FTII invited me to deliver a lecture. I felt vindicated when the faculty members of the institute complimented me for my honest presentation.”

The filmmaker learnt all about cinema by watching films while he was working in a video library in Mumbai. “My films have taught me a lot. Critically-acclaimed films like Corporate, Page 3 and Fashion have taught me how business honchos work, how celebrities lead their lives and how designers and model work behind the scene.”

The filmmaker says a large number of film and acting institute have come up now where students learn elementary things about acting. “No institute can make you an actor. It has to be something within you,” he adds.

However, where Madhur scores over other filmmakers is in the extensive research work he does. “I feel research is an important part of film making. Therefore, I meticulously study all details before shooting for a new project.”

Madhur is now gearing up to make a comedy film. “It will not be a slapstick kind of film and will have Madhur Bhandarkar’s stamp. It would be in the mould of earlier films of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee. I admire Bollywood superstars Akshay Kumar and Govinda for their sense of timing in comedy but I will cast them only if they suit the characters in my film.”

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