National Award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, known for making hard hitting cinema in the popular format, Thursday shared his cinematic journey and views on women in cinema with the fairer sex playing the main protagonists in his most critically acclaimed films like Chandni Bar.

In a conversation with Bollywood film journalist, Bharti Pradhan, organised by the FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO), Bhandarkar said, "My life changed after making 'Chandni Bar'. Without a big production house it is very difficult to sustain in the film industry where equation changes 'Friday to Friday'."

"I attended a total of 60 bars for making this film. There was so much of material after researching that I could make many films related to this subject."

'Trishakti', Bhandrakar's directorial debut was a huge flop in the box office due to various reasons and was an eye opener for him.

`Had 'Trishakti' clicked, I wouldn't have been sitting here. Then I wanted to make a cinema of my own gut feeling and I made Chandi Bar,` said Madhur.

The filmmaker said that he has a journalistic trait in him. Citing the examples of a few real life incidents he told the audience why he made realistic films.

Once being in a fashion show he saw a model having alcohol just before her ramp walk and even in a death funeral he realised some people talking about the next party they are going to attain. This is how he used real life incidents in his movies.


`You can't take women away from Madhur Bhandarkar. He knows women from perhaps every angle. Starting from a bar dancer, to a corporate woman, from a traffic signal girl to a journalist in the fashion world. Madhur knows what makes a woman cry and what makes a woman laugh. He basically knows every trait of a woman,` said the writer cum journalist, Bharti S Pradhan.

Speaking about the criticisms of his films, he said, `After 'Page 3', a lot of people stopped going to Page 3 parties. After 'Corporate' the whole war of soft drinks started and a lot of people said that Madhur only shows the negative sides.`

`Why should I shy away from showing the brutal truth in the film? What I showed was real; there was nothing wrong with it,` he added.

Speaking about Priyanka Chopra's character in Fashion, he said, `Priyanka's character in 'Fashion' had so many shades in it. Personally Priyanka is very emotional.

I wanted a character who has a middle-class trait in her and along with that the daunting side of her which I thought she could deliver because she was a former Miss India. And thus the character I wanted came out in the movie very nicely.`


`Priyanka and Kangna never had any problem with each other on the sets of 'Fashion'. It was just a media hype regarding them,` he added.

When asked about the brand names that he has shown in his movies, he said, `It is a glamour industry I am showing. The brand that I am showing has to be a settled brand. They have a commercial angle in it and I will put them in my films until it is harming a film's status.`

Speaking about Bipasha Basu he said, `Bipasha was only doing glamorous films. But in 'Corporate' she did her role without make-up and she came out with flying colours in the movie the way she delivered her role.`

`I am really inspired by works of Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak.` said the women centric director.

When asked about his view on casting Konkona in Page 3, he said, `I loved Konkona's acting in her films and that's where I decided to make a film with her. When 'Page 3' happened, I wanted a girl who looks like a journalist and not a typical Bollywood heroine. She is a person whose grasping power is tremendous and I thus decided to do 'Page 3' with her.`

Speaking about the failures of the film industry that he has shown in 'Heroine', he said, `I have seen big filmmakers in an award function who is sitting in the 15th row. It is not that success will remain forever. Constantly actors are looking for appreciation from the audience. Face is fortune for an actor. They feel bad when people don't recognize them. So I feel that whatever I have shown in my films is very much real.`


`I want to stick to the type of cinema I make, typically hard-hitting and realistic that shows the truth and the 'behind the scene' facts. This is my forte. This is the subject I made my career over it,` said Bhandarkar rejecting the rumors about him on not making films of different aspects.

`I am thinking to bring a subject which will be happy and not have alcohol in it. I am trying to bring a romantic musical film,` he added.