The equation in Bollywood changes every Friday: Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar has over the years sustained on his style of cinema, based on real-life situations and individuals. In his journey in Bollywood so far, sometimes lonely, the filmmaker has won national awards for his films ‘Page 3’, ‘Traffic Signal’ and ‘Chandni Bar’.

Bhandarkar, who has shown the not-so-glamorous side of the glamour world through his films like ‘Fashion’ and ‘Heroine’, is currently working on a film about the plight of migrant labourers. The film – ‘India Lockdown’ – takes its reference from the nationwide lockdown in the country in 2020 due to the pandemic, which is still haunting the world.

In an exclusive interview with Opoyi, the filmmaker opens up on the challenges he faced for taking reference from real-life stories, some of which dig deep into the dark tales of the film industry.

Madhur Bhandarkar says his choice of subjects has often left him with few friends in Bollywood but he has no qualms about that.

“People got upset with me when I made ‘Chandni Bar’ ‘Page 3’ and ‘Corporate’ or for that matter ‘Traffic Signal’. A lot of people came and told me that Madhur has the habit of taking pangas with everybody. Even during ‘Indu Sarkar’, a lot of political parties opposed it. They protested against the film and I had to take security for one and half months from the Maharashtra Government. When I made ‘Heroine’, people again had issues. They said you have taken a lot of references from real people,” he says.

The filmmaker, who has so far won three National Film Awards and Padma Shri, says when people write about these issues and make YouTube videos about relationships then nobody questions but “why do people have an issue when I am making a film?”

On raising eyebrows after announcing film on Bollywood wives

Madhur Bhandarkar, who has previously accused Dharma Productions led by Karan Johar for allegedly misappropriating the title ‘Bollywood Wives’ that is registered with him, says: “When the title of ‘Bollywood Wives’ came to me, which is originally my title and it’s still there with me, I don’t know why people suddenly developed a cold feet that now Madhur is going into the personal space of people. He is trying to get into the murky world of Bollywood wives and all. I don’t understand that.”

Moving on from the controversy, Bhandarkar says that certain audiences want to see his kind of film.

“There are people who know that Madhur will show the reality, which no other filmmaker would dare to show.”

Equations in Bollywood

“I don’t have friends in the industry. I have few friends here and there, who are good friends. The industry equation changes from Friday to Friday. There is very cut-throat competition and it’s a ruthless world. They always say that in politics and the film industry, there is no permanent friendship and there is no permanent enmity. Industry equation changes, world changes and I don’t belong to any camp or lobby,” the 52-year-old said.

The filmmaker, who has risen to this level in the industry without any support says, “I am an Independent filmmaker and I make the cinema the way I want to. I have earned my respect and branding with my own kind of cinema. Nobody has supported me or stood by me in my life. I had to fight my own battle in my life.”

But, Bhandarkar says, he is content with whatever he has achieved.

“I am in my own zone. I have basic things in my life anywhere in the country. My need is not too much in my life. I believe that ultimately people won’t remember which lobby you belong to, people will remember you for what films you have done and I have a good biography of the kind of films I did,” says Bhandarkar, who says he can survive on his “chai and vada pav anywhere in the country.”

About Bollywood camps

“I have received national awards multiple times and I am very content in my life. At this stage after giving 20-21 years of my life since ‘Chandni bar’ till now, I am very happy with the kind of movies I have made and am sure that they will be remembered till posterity so I am very happy with that.

“At this time I don’t want to go to some camp, I am very cool working with everybody and I have no problem working with anybody. I also meet people who tell me that they are fans and that I make.. Realistic and hard-hitting films,” he said.

About ‘India Lockdown’,  and middle-class representation in his films

Bhandarkar’s next film is ‘India Lockdown’ inspired by true events and is set around the first two months of the lockdown (March-April 2020). It has multiple tracks running simultaneously, which revolve around migrant workers, sex workers, businessmen, and lonely people.

The filmmaker says that the stories during the lockdown truly moved him, especially migrant laborers’ plight.

“I come from a very humble lower-middle-class family and I have been brought up only in those things. All my movies, whether it ‘Chandni Bar’ or ‘Sarkar’ or ‘India Lockdown’, have been about the real issue. Somehow I connect with people and I understand the emotional angle to it be it the women or the men in my movies. All my protagonist in the movies whether male or female have been the middle class and I always want that middle class to be that representative of the society or whatever the story I am telling

“ I feel it’s very essential to me. Migrants were the ones and then some elderly people were staying alone. I have also taken the inspiration of a love angle between a couple who didn’t meet each other. Story of an old man who is stranded at home and cannot go home then the story of prostitutes, how they survived in pandemic times,” he said.

On working on a project after the 2017 film ‘Indu Sarkar’

“I make films when I want to do that. I am not somebody who will make it every year. I am an artist as a filmmaker and it’s my prerogative when I want to make a movie and when I don’t want to make a movie. There was a time when I had two releases in a year.

“I was planning a film with a big actor but it didn’t materialize. I wanted to do an action-oriented film which I thought of making and I invested one and half years in that but somewhere it didn’t take off. I still have that subject but I don’t know when I want to make it.

“I want to make a film about the action world, which is very unlike Madhur Bhandarkar so I take time to connect with a subject. I have done a lot of films earlier. I am not a filmmaker who will sit at home as I have to interact with people, research things. I have to read a lot so all those things happened. In 2020 I wanted to start one women-centric film. It’s a slice of life story and then suddenly the lockdown happened,” he said.

The filmmaker is currently editing ‘India Lockdown’ and will decide the release date and medium after that.