New Delhi: Twenty years after the release of his 2005 film Page 3, Bollywood filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar says that the industry’s gossip and party culture “remains unchanged”.
“If anything, it’s even more prevalent now,” Bhandarkar told ThePrint, adding that “the journalist’s role has been taken over by the digital medium.”
Known for critically acclaimed films such as Chandni Bar (2001) and Fashion (2008), Bhandarkar said that the content once exclusive to Page 3 is now easily accessible on social media. His Page 3 explored the dark side of filmy glamour through its protagonist, a young journalist played by actor Konkona Sen Sharma.
“Earlier, there was genuine curiosity about what actors were doing, eating, or drinking—essentially every detail of their lives. Now, that curiosity has faded because actors themselves share these moments online,” he explained.
The once-staple Page 3 gossip, according to Bhandarkar, became “sanistised” as people began paying for their coverage—something he explored two decades ago in his film.
“Now, they pay the paps for their spotting – from airports and gyms to salons and parties…the whole thing: dikhega toh bikega (if it’s visible, it will sell) has been engraved strongly into people.”
Controversy king
When Madhur Bhandarkar set out to make Page 3, everyone tried to stop him. It was too controversial, they said, and exposed the underbelly of Mumbai’s elite class.
“They said, ‘you are taking panga (cudgels) with the high and mighty people. You are brushing everyone in the wrong way — the politicians, the socialites and top people of the industry, sabke kapde fad raha hai (you’re tearing everyone’s clothes),” he recalled.
Relatively new to the Hindi film industry at the time, Bhandarkar ignored detractors and went ahead with his project, which he shot on a shoestring budget of Rs 2.5 crore.
The film received mixed reactions, he said. “Sixty per cent loved it and 40 per cent didn’t agree with me.”
A lot of socialites became upset with him, hitting back with “nasty articles”. “Some even said: ‘instead of watching Page 3, one should simply attend a Page 3 party.’”
However, controversy has been the binding thread in Bhandarkar’s work – Heroine (2012) to Indu Sarkar (2017).
Indu Sarkar, starring actor Kirti Kulhari, is a political drama set against the backdrop of the Emergency.
“Madhur Bhandarkar murdabad echoed as people protested against me,” the filmmaker said, recalling the aftermath of Indu Sarkar’s release.
While Bhandarkar describes himself as a very thick-skinned and strong-willed individual, he was demotivated to make films when the backlash took a toll on his family.
“My 10-year-old daughter would ask me: ‘why are they chanting slogans against you?’ Our movement was curtailed. She was very scared. The Maharashtra government gave us security for two months,” he remembered. “In simple words: I was depressed.”
Spotlighting women’s stories
Controversy isn’t the defining factor of Madhur Bhandarkar’s work. Women-centric narratives have been equally integral to it.
Though he has made several films with male protagonists – Traffic Signal (2007) with Kunal Kemmu, Jail (2009) with Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji (2011) with Ajay Devgn – women-led stories have dominated his filmography. And it’s evident in Chandni Bar, Page 3, Fashion, Corporate (2006), Heroine and Babli Bouncer (2022).
His commitment to spotlighting the female gaze, however, was often rendered a blow by producers. Many were ready to offer him “triple the money” if he replaced the female lead with a male one.
“They would say, ‘if you want a journalist, make it male. For Corporate, which had Bipasha Basu in the lead, they said swap the gender, make the lead a male. Instead of Heroine, make a film on the stardom of heroes. Put male models in Fashion’,” he recalled.
But these offers didn’t tempt Bhandarkar.
“I made films the way I wanted to. I am comfortable telling women centric stories — even if I have constraints of budget,” he said.
Now, his upcoming film, Wives of Bollywood, will bring out a different side of the film industry. Bhandarkar describes it as “Page 3 on steroids.”
While he hasn’t watched the Netflix show Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, his new film will be “real and hard-hitting” and make “some people uncomfortable.”
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)