Corporate-counter-talk..... Madhur Bhandakar takes it on his chin....talks to Subhash K Jha

Q: Corporate has too much detailing and jargon from the business world. The average viewer is nonplussed.
A: When I decided to make a film on the workings of the business world I had to make it as authentic as the world of politics in Satta, the socialites' parties in Page 3 and the beer bars in Chandni Bar. I can't fake it. I didn't want my business world to look filmy.

If I did I'd call it Dhande Ke Saudagar or something. If I made a film on the film trade I've to use trade language, or else I'll end up making a filmy film on the film world. I was willing to take the audience into confidence.

I also knew with a title like Corporate I was making a film that had a niche audience and was completely metro-centric, for the multiplexes. I was aware Corporate won't have the immediate emotional resonance as Chandni Bar or Page 3.

But I'm also aware that once the audience gets hooked to the drama they'll love every moment of Corporate. Audiences are already connected to the theme... which is...everyone gets used in one way or another.

Q: Some critics have compared Corporate with Page 3.
A: Thank God they're comparing it with my film only, and not someone else's. I can't see any similarity between the two...You should ask them about it. My films can never be accused of copying each other or anyone else.

Why do people forget that Corporate is a 4-crore rupee experimental film? I'm not a commercial filmmaker I'm an experimental filmmaker whose films make a profit without being formulistic.

Q: There're too many characters. Actors like Sammir Dattani and Minisha Lamba barely register.
A: I was aware of this. And in fact Dattani and Lamba were billed guest appearance when I realized that their role wasn't large enough. Essentially Corporate is about the war between two giants played by Rajat Kapoor and Raj Babbar.

And Atul Kulkarni's voiceover tells us that at the start. I just wanted audiences to recognize the other characters as belonging to the two warring groups.

Q: You've used references from the cola-pesticide controversy and also used real-life personalities like Javed Akhtar and Prahlad Kakkar to give authenticity to your drama.
A: Yes, I have. But let me clarify real-life references are not snatched from the headlines. I didn't borrow anything from a real-life cola war. Our screenplay isn't judgemental.

And the pesticide controversy wasn't peculiar to soft drinks. It cropped up in so many other things. I don't know why my films are always so closely scrutinized for real-life references. Maybe that's a compliment for how real my films are.

Q: What was the point of an item song in your real -life film and of showing the item girl being sent for sex to the politician?
A: Please try to understand. Bollywood is brought in not for an item song but because we needed to show the politician's interest in Bollywood. Why only my film? So many films have shown this nexus. As for an item song, what's wrong with one if it's not out place? I had one in Page 3 also.

Q: Bipasha's character starts as being a woman in-charge but ends up being exploited and abused. Isn't that contradictory?
A: Yes. She becomes a victim eventually just like everyone else in the film. She has the option and she decides to be the fall girl for love. Her love for Kay Kay Menon supercedes all her other considerations. Why can't women in power be emotional?

Man or woman, people have been known to make unbelievable sacrifices for love. So far the audiences' response has been very encouraging. And my films have always grown by word of mouth.