Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Hard hitting Madhur Bhandarkar

“I have had to face some criticism,” the filmmaker comments of his dwelling on the grime behind the glitter. “But bouquets and brickbats are part of any creative person’s life. Now I have this image. Like the other day, I had gone to the hospital to visit my friend’s father. The doctors were all hovering around me asking if everything was alright because they thought I was making a film on hospitals!”

Madhur says he researches his movies thoroughly. “Journalists loved Konkana’s character in ‘Page 3’.” And when you demand why he went in for the stereotyping of crime reporting as the serious kind of reporting, Madhur dives under the “it is not a documentary” cover.

‘Fashion’ is the director’s most ambitious project yet in terms of scale. “While my palate usually favours the greys and blacks, if the movie is going to be about fashion, it needs to be opulent. The budget is about Rs. 18 crore. There are eleven ramp sequences. But though the sets are high on glitz and glamour, the characters, dialogues and situations are within the parameters of reality.”

Talking of the inspiration for the film, which stars Priyanka Chopra and Kangana Raut among others, Madhur says: “I made ‘Traffic Signal’ as I wanted to break from the high life of ‘Page 3’ and ‘Corporate’. After ‘Traffic Signal’ I wanted to move away from that world. I saw the kind of coverage fashion gets in media and thought this is something the common man would like to know more about.”

A director trademark, apart from strong women characters, is the single word English titles. “I like to use single words for my titles. It gives a distinct air to the film.” Madhur describes himself as an actor’s director. “I like to believe that. All my actors have given strong performances. Be it Konkona in ‘Page 3’, Raveena in ‘Satta’, Tabu in ‘Chandini Bar’ or Bipasha Basu in ‘Corporate’.

While Madhur has gone on record saying he is taking a break from women-dominated films, will he ever turn his investigative eye to the world of film, effectively biting the hand that fed him? “If I get a good enough story, then I will definitely do so,” as he signs off.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail