Madhur Bhandarkar
Encyclopedia
Madhur Bhandarkar (born August 26, 1968) is a National Award
-winning India
n film director
, script writer
, and producer
. He is best known for his films such as Chandni Bar
(2001), Page 3
(2005), Traffic Signal
(2007), and Fashion
(2008). He won the National Award for Best Director for Traffic Signal.
, a suburb of Mumbai
. This gave him access to a large collection of movies and he studied film-making through it.
After trying his skills at production and various other stints including as assistant to film director Ashok Gaikwad, Bhandarkar landed up as an assistant to Ram Gopal Varma
. He even played a small role in his 1995 film Rangeela
. In the same year he made a pilot episode of a TV serial 'Apne Rang Hazaar' but did not find success. A couple of years later he made his directorial debut with Trishakti which took more than two years to make and released in 1999. The film had a relatively low key cast and was largely ignored at the box office. After two years he directed Chandni Bar
(2001) starring Tabu
and Atul Kulkarni
. The film was a critically acclaimed success, which took Bhandarkar into the top league of filmmakers in Bollywood. He received his first National Award for this film and there on won National awards for his films Page-3 and Traffic Signal. Three National Awards winning director Madhur Bhandarkar has recently added one more feather to his cap. Madhur was conferred PL Deshpande Award a.k.a. Zenith Asia Award for significantly shaping the film making culture in his unique works and he has been described as The Film Maker of The First Decade of 21st Century. On the Silver Jubilee Year of Aashay Film Club, this award ceremony took place on 16th Nov at National Film Archive Theatre during 8th ‘Pulotsav – An Art Festival’ in Pune. PL Deshpande was a renowned writer, stage and film actor and his literary works are still revered in Maharashtra and others parts of the world. In his honour, Zenith Asia Award was given to Madhur Bhandarkar and his film Chandni Bar
was also screened during the fest amongst landmarked 25 films from the world cinema.
Also recently, National Film Archive of India (NFAI) which falls under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India preserved all the films of renowned Indian Film-Maker Madhur Bhandarkar. Chandani Bar, Page-3, Corporate, Traffic Signal, Fashion and Jail, are all the films of the realistic film-maker which will now find space in Government’s Archival data for Indian Films.
The nature of job of National Film Archive of India is to safeguard the heritage of Indian Cinema for posterity and act as a centre for dissemination of a healthy film culture in the country. Promotion of film scholarship and research on various aspects of cinema also form part of its Charter. Familiarizing foreign audiences with Indian Cinema and to make it more visible across the globe is another declared objective of the Archive.
. They have a daughter named Siddhi. Madhur is the life member of International Film and Television Research Centre of Asian Academy of Film & Television
, Noida.
in Chandni Bar, Raveena Tandon
in Satta, Konkona Sen Sharma
in Page 3, Bipasha Basu
in Corporate, and Priyanka Chopra
in Fashion.) He has also depicted gay characters in his movies like Page 3, Traffic signal and Fashion.
In an interview with Sanjay Ram of Businessofcinema.com he said "My movies are not exposes, maybe they just hold up a mirror to society. My movies are not judgmental; I just show what happens in our society, sometimes there could be a solution and sometimes there may be none. Life goes on."
and criminal intimidation by small time actress Preeti Jain. Jain stated that she had intercourse with Bhandarkar between 2000 and 2003 under the false pretenses of marriage and a lead role in a movie. Madhur has also been charged for threatening the aspiring model.
In September 2005, Jain was arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder
. Police alleged that she paid gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli
's one time aide Naresh Pardesi Rs. 75,000 to have Bhandarkar killed. She was later released on bail.
In 2009, Jain moved the Andheri court with her complaint after which the police submitted a report stating that there is no evidence of rape against the director. The trial was stayed, after which Preeti moved a local court in Mumbai.
National Film Awards
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...
-winning India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, script writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. He is best known for his films such as Chandni Bar
Chandni Bar
Chandni Bar is a 2001 Hindi film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. It depicts the gritty life of the Mumbai underworld, including prostitution, dance bars and gun crime. The film stars Tabu and Atul Kulkarni in lead roles. It also stars Ananya Khare, Rajpal Yadav, Minakshi Sahani and Vishal Thakkar...
(2001), Page 3
Page 3 (film)
Page 3 is a 2005 Indian film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar about the Page 3 Culture and media in the city of Mumbai. It stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Atul Kulkarni, Sandhya Mridul, Tara Sharma, Anju Mahendru, and Boman Irani...
(2005), Traffic Signal
Traffic Signal (film)
Traffic Signal is a Bollywood film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar, starring Kunal Khemu, Neetu Chandra, Ranvir Shorey and Konkona Sen Sharma in the lead. Produced by Baldev and Kavita Pushkarna, and written by Sachin Yardi, the film released on February 2, 2007...
(2007), and Fashion
Fashion (film)
Fashion is a 2008 Indian film co-produced, co-written, and directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The film has a massive star cast which includes Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut and newcomers Mugdha Godse and Arjan Bajwa. Based on the dark side of the world of fashion, the movie depicts it through the...
(2008). He won the National Award for Best Director for Traffic Signal.
Career
Madhur Bhandarkar worked in a video cassette library in KharKhar, Mumbai
Khar is a suburb of Mumbai, north of Bandra and south of Santa Cruz. For the suburb's corresponding railway station see Khar Road.The suburb of Khar also has the fishermen folk area , also known as Khar Danda...
, a suburb of Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. This gave him access to a large collection of movies and he studied film-making through it.
After trying his skills at production and various other stints including as assistant to film director Ashok Gaikwad, Bhandarkar landed up as an assistant to Ram Gopal Varma
Ram Gopal Varma
Ram Gopal Varma is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer...
. He even played a small role in his 1995 film Rangeela
Rangeela (film)
Rangeela is a 1995 Hindi film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, and starring Aamir Khan, Jackie Shroff and Urmila Matondkar.Rangeela was music director A. R. Rahman's debut Hindi film with an original score, as the previous ones were dubbed from his Tamil scores...
. In the same year he made a pilot episode of a TV serial 'Apne Rang Hazaar' but did not find success. A couple of years later he made his directorial debut with Trishakti which took more than two years to make and released in 1999. The film had a relatively low key cast and was largely ignored at the box office. After two years he directed Chandni Bar
Chandni Bar
Chandni Bar is a 2001 Hindi film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. It depicts the gritty life of the Mumbai underworld, including prostitution, dance bars and gun crime. The film stars Tabu and Atul Kulkarni in lead roles. It also stars Ananya Khare, Rajpal Yadav, Minakshi Sahani and Vishal Thakkar...
(2001) starring Tabu
Tabu (actress)
Tabu is an Indian film actress. She has mainly acted in Hindi films, though she has also starred in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali language films, as well as one American film...
and Atul Kulkarni
Atul Kulkarni
Atul Kulkarni born 10 September 1965 is an Indian actor who has won two National Awards and has superstar status in Marathi film industry after successful movies like Valu and Natarang....
. The film was a critically acclaimed success, which took Bhandarkar into the top league of filmmakers in Bollywood. He received his first National Award for this film and there on won National awards for his films Page-3 and Traffic Signal. Three National Awards winning director Madhur Bhandarkar has recently added one more feather to his cap. Madhur was conferred PL Deshpande Award a.k.a. Zenith Asia Award for significantly shaping the film making culture in his unique works and he has been described as The Film Maker of The First Decade of 21st Century. On the Silver Jubilee Year of Aashay Film Club, this award ceremony took place on 16th Nov at National Film Archive Theatre during 8th ‘Pulotsav – An Art Festival’ in Pune. PL Deshpande was a renowned writer, stage and film actor and his literary works are still revered in Maharashtra and others parts of the world. In his honour, Zenith Asia Award was given to Madhur Bhandarkar and his film Chandni Bar
Chandni Bar
Chandni Bar is a 2001 Hindi film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. It depicts the gritty life of the Mumbai underworld, including prostitution, dance bars and gun crime. The film stars Tabu and Atul Kulkarni in lead roles. It also stars Ananya Khare, Rajpal Yadav, Minakshi Sahani and Vishal Thakkar...
was also screened during the fest amongst landmarked 25 films from the world cinema.
Also recently, National Film Archive of India (NFAI) which falls under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India preserved all the films of renowned Indian Film-Maker Madhur Bhandarkar. Chandani Bar, Page-3, Corporate, Traffic Signal, Fashion and Jail, are all the films of the realistic film-maker which will now find space in Government’s Archival data for Indian Films.
The nature of job of National Film Archive of India is to safeguard the heritage of Indian Cinema for posterity and act as a centre for dissemination of a healthy film culture in the country. Promotion of film scholarship and research on various aspects of cinema also form part of its Charter. Familiarizing foreign audiences with Indian Cinema and to make it more visible across the globe is another declared objective of the Archive.
Personal Life
Bhandarkar is a school dropout. His father was an electric contractor. When he was about twelve years old, his father's business suffered heavy losses. As a result, Madhur had to take up jobs. He worked at a video store as an errand boy and dropped off cassettes to people from many walks of life including dance bar girls and film stars. He also sold chewing gum at traffic signals and worked as an assistant to small time directors for a paltry salary of Rs. 1000. He also travelled to Dubai where his only sibling, elder sister was based in search of work. At time of his struggle, he travelled by bus and sometimes those who had done bit roles in his films would give him seat only to embarrass him. (Times of India- 27 September 2009 as told to Sudeshna Chatterjee by Bhadarkar himself) He is a great devotee of the Hindu God Siddhivinayak and would walk barefoot from his residence in Khar to Prabhadevi on Tuesdays when in town. According to him, the film Corporate was his most difficult film as people in corporate world would shun him after he bared page 3 culture in his earlier film. He took inspiration for Corporate from the Coke - Pepsi controversy. He has been invited to deliver lectures on corporate issues to management students after the release of Corporate. (Interview to TV channel IBN Lokmat on 26 November 2008) Bhandarkar married his girlfriend Renu Namboodiri-Bhandarkar on 15 December 2003 in MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. They have a daughter named Siddhi. Madhur is the life member of International Film and Television Research Centre of Asian Academy of Film & Television
Asian Academy of Film & Television
The Asian Academy of Film & Television is a film school located in India's Noida Film City in India's Capital region, NCR. It is affiliated with the International Film & Television Research Center and the Marwah Films & Video Studios....
, Noida.
Directorial style
In most of his films, Bhandarkar's protagonist is female. (TabuTabu (actress)
Tabu is an Indian film actress. She has mainly acted in Hindi films, though she has also starred in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali language films, as well as one American film...
in Chandni Bar, Raveena Tandon
Raveena Tandon
Raveena Tandon is a National Film Award winning Indian actress, producer, and a former model. She has primarily worked in Bollywood films, though she appeared in a few Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films as well....
in Satta, Konkona Sen Sharma
Konkona Sen Sharma
Konkona Sen Sharma is an Indian actress. She is the daughter of actress and filmmaker Aparna Sen. Sharma appears primarily in Indian arthouse and independent films, and her achievements in the genre have established her as one of the leading actresses of contemporary parallel cinema.Making her...
in Page 3, Bipasha Basu
Bipasha Basu
Bipasha Basu is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Bollywood films. A former model, she was the winner of the Ford's Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996.-Early life:...
in Corporate, and Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 2000. She is often referred to by the nickname "Piggy Chops", which was given to her by co-stars on the set of the film...
in Fashion.) He has also depicted gay characters in his movies like Page 3, Traffic signal and Fashion.
In an interview with Sanjay Ram of Businessofcinema.com he said "My movies are not exposes, maybe they just hold up a mirror to society. My movies are not judgmental; I just show what happens in our society, sometimes there could be a solution and sometimes there may be none. Life goes on."
Controversy
In July 2004, he was accused of rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and criminal intimidation by small time actress Preeti Jain. Jain stated that she had intercourse with Bhandarkar between 2000 and 2003 under the false pretenses of marriage and a lead role in a movie. Madhur has also been charged for threatening the aspiring model.
In September 2005, Jain was arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder
Conspiracy to murder
Conspiracy to murder is a statutory offence in England and Wales and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.-England and Wales:Conspiracy to murder is an offence by virtue of section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.Mens rea...
. Police alleged that she paid gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli
Arun Gawli
Arun Gulab Gawli , known to his followers as "Daddy", is an alleged criminal turned politician from Mumbai, India. He is based at Dagdi Chawl in Byculla- Saat Rasta, Mumbai...
's one time aide Naresh Pardesi Rs. 75,000 to have Bhandarkar killed. She was later released on bail.
In 2009, Jain moved the Andheri court with her complaint after which the police submitted a report stating that there is no evidence of rape against the director. The trial was stayed, after which Preeti moved a local court in Mumbai.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Heroine Heroine (film) Heroine is an upcoming Indian film co - written and directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The film revolves around the life of a once successful film actress Mahi Khanna, whose career is on the decline... |
Director | |
| 2011 | Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji | Director | |
| 2009 | Jail Jail (film) Jail is a Hindi movie directed by Madhur Bhandarkar and starring Neil Nitin Mukesh, Arya Babbar, Mugdha Godse and Manoj Bajpai.-Synopsis:... |
Director | |
| 2008 | Fashion Fashion (film) Fashion is a 2008 Indian film co-produced, co-written, and directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The film has a massive star cast which includes Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut and newcomers Mugdha Godse and Arjan Bajwa. Based on the dark side of the world of fashion, the movie depicts it through the... |
Director, Writer (Story & Screenplay), Producer | |
| 2007 | Traffic Signal Traffic Signal (film) Traffic Signal is a Bollywood film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar, starring Kunal Khemu, Neetu Chandra, Ranvir Shorey and Konkona Sen Sharma in the lead. Produced by Baldev and Kavita Pushkarna, and written by Sachin Yardi, the film released on February 2, 2007... |
Director, Writer (Dialogue, Screenplay & Story) |
Won National Film Award for Best Director |
| 2006 | Corporate Corporate (film) Corporate is a Bollywood film released in July 2006. The film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar stars Bipasha Basu, Kay Kay Menon, Payal Rohatgi, Minissha Lamba and Raj Babbar.-Plot:... |
Director, Writer (Screenplay) |
|
| 2005 | Page 3 Page 3 (film) Page 3 is a 2005 Indian film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar about the Page 3 Culture and media in the city of Mumbai. It stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Atul Kulkarni, Sandhya Mridul, Tara Sharma, Anju Mahendru, and Boman Irani... |
Director, Writer (Dialogue) |
Won National Film Award for Best Film National Film Award for Best Film The National Award for Best Feature film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and was constituted in the year 1954. This is one of the Golden Lotus Awards given among National Film Awards... |
| 2004 | Aan: Men at Work Aan: Men at Work Aan: Men At Work is a 2004 Bollywood film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The movie is about the life of a police officer fighting crime constantly.-Plot:Crime is at its highest peak in Mumbai with it split in three ways... |
Director, Writer (Dialogue & Story) |
|
| 2003 | Satta Satta Satta is a 2001 album by Boozoo Bajou-Track listing:# "Yma" – 6:29# "Camioux" – 5:32# "Night Over Manaus" – 6:19# "Divers" – 5:02# "Bakar" – 5:14# "Down And Out" – 6:06# "Yoruba Road" – 5:36# "Under My Sensi" – 6:01# "Lava" – 4:51... |
Director, Writer (Dialogue & Story) |
|
| 2001 | Chandni Bar Chandni Bar Chandni Bar is a 2001 Hindi film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. It depicts the gritty life of the Mumbai underworld, including prostitution, dance bars and gun crime. The film stars Tabu and Atul Kulkarni in lead roles. It also stars Ananya Khare, Rajpal Yadav, Minakshi Sahani and Vishal Thakkar... |
Director, Writer |
Won National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues The National Film Award - Best Film on Other Social Issues winners:... |
| 1999 | Trishakti | Director | |
| 1995 | Rangeela Rangeela (film) Rangeela is a 1995 Hindi film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, and starring Aamir Khan, Jackie Shroff and Urmila Matondkar.Rangeela was music director A. R. Rahman's debut Hindi film with an original score, as the previous ones were dubbed from his Tamil scores... |
Actor |