I was once in an elevator and there were two businessmen discussing a controversial deal. Once they saw me, they stopped talking. When I asked them why, one of them said: ‘Nahin sir, aap picture mein daal dogey!’”
Madhur Bhandarkar — the man who shot into the spotlight with the Tabu starrer Chandni Bar and followed it up with a string of hits like Page 3, Corporate and Fashion, was in Calcutta last week to address members of the Young Ficci Ladies Organisation (YFLO) at The Park.
For over an hour, YFLO chairperson Shradha Agarwaal quizzed the man known for taking the veil off many a glam industry — journalism to the corporate world, fashion to films — as he captivated the crowd with the story of his rise from humble beginnings and his film formula. Accompanying him was the cast of his September 25 film Calendar Girls. Sitting in the audience, t2 took notes…
Making realistic and hard-hitting films…
Yes, my name is Madhur, but my films are the opposite. I deal in dark reality. A lot of people ask me: ‘Is there any problem in your life? Tumhein kuch dard hai?’ (smiles). They ask me why I show so much pain. But I am someone who likes all kinds of films. I am a fan of commercial cinema. I am a great admirer of Manmohan Desai and Subhash Ghai’s cinema. I am a Rajinikanth fan too. I like making the kind of films I do because, somewhere, I have a journalistic streak in me.
My first film Trishakti had all the ingredients of a commercial film, but it didn’t work. It was a film which other people wanted me to make. Ultimately, I decided to do what I believe in, even if it doesn’t work. That’s the mantra for any kind of success. At least, at the end of the day, I am happy with what I make. Chandni Bar was a turning point in my career. People keep saying: ‘Ek Friday aati hai aur zindagi badal jaati hai’. I remember after Trishakti flopped, people would avoid me… no one called me to their parties. I used to hang around small-time secretaries and get access to parties to meet people. Kyunki industry mein ek kahawat hai: ‘Jo dikhega, woh bikega’. It’s a very cut-throat industry. That’s the way it goes, but that doesn’t mean you have to be vindictive about it. The people who humiliated me in my early years… I have worked with the same people later (smiles).
Video cassette delivery boy to National Award-winning director…
I tell all the people who work with me that in this industry, you have to be very real… very pragmatic. You cannot be in la la land. People ask me about the secret to my success and I don’t know, really. I was a Class VI fail, a cassette delivery boy… I started assisting Ram Gopal Varma. My first film bombed and I would stand at bus stops and take autos and then suddenly, I made Chandni Bar. Four months later, I found myself taking an award from (President) Abdul Kalam saab. I believe that it’s my pragmatic approach that’s worked for me.
Making women-centric films…
I definitely feel a certain comfort level telling stories about women. I know that actresses like working with me because they get a lot of scope to perform in my films. I am happy making such films… I have managed to create a brand… a niche for myself. Everyone knows about the Madhur Bhandarkar kind of cinema… real, edgy. My films are neither commercial nor arty… they are middle-of-the-road cinema.
Courting controversy…
That’s because I pick up topics like that to make my films. Now the Indrani Mukerjea case is in the news and there has been a barrage of messages on Facebook and Twitter saying that Madhur will make a film on this! After I announced Calendar Girls, I happened to meet Vijay Mallya and he asked me what’s there in the film? I told him: ‘Aap picture dekho’ (smiles).
Being an outsider in Bollywood…
This industry only knows one word — success… let’s be honest about that. If someone is a failure, they treat them as manhoos. I have never sat and analysed what Bollywood thinks about me. I have made the films I want because I believe that it’s better to be a king in hell than to be a servant in heaven. I am happy in my zone. On the face, people are very nice, but friendships in Bollywood are very fragile. If you are talking in a group and you go to the washroom, the others will start bitching about you.
Bollywood is the only place where someone’s humiliation happens in the public domain. If a businessman’s current endeavour fails, he can do something else, without anyone being the wiser about it. But as a filmmaker, once you put your film out in the public domain, then everyone will have an opinion about it because he or she has paid for a ticket for your film. Like a rickshawallah will tell me: ‘Aapka gaana dekha… zyada mazaa nahin aaya!’ (Laughs) He’s entitled to tell me that because he’s bought a ticket.
Rupali Basu, CEO, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals (felicitated Madhur on stage)
I don’t really get the time to watch films, but I have liked Madhur Bhandarkar’s Chandni Bar, Corporate and Fashion for their strong portrayal of women. What’s great about his films is that the women in them are relatable and we can derive our personal stories from them.
Shillpi Goel, YFLO committee member
It was a great event with more than 280 members in attendance. I liked how Madhur Bhandarkar shared his life journey… his failures and successes. He is a very humble person and has a different way of working.
Priyanka Sonthalia, businesswoman
I really liked his humility and the fact that he has made it on his own without a godfather. His success is testimony to the fact that at the end of the day, it’s perseverance and hard work that counts.
“We had a packed house of a highly thrilled audience. For the first time ever we had five stars and one superstar being interviewed at the same time on stage. We’ve been flooded with email calls and messages on how remarkable the evening was” — Shradha Agarwaal, YFLO chairperson.
Priyanka Roy
Pictures: B. Halder
