Born on 26th August 1966, is a four times National Award-winning Indian film director, producer and script-writer best known for making hard-hitting realistic cinema that not just has the critical acclaim but also has the best commercial success rate in the country. He is best known for his film such as Chandni Bar (2001), Page 3 (2005), Traffic Signal (2007), Fashion (2008), Jail (2010), Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji (2011) and Heroine (2012). He has been written about many times as the Indian answer to Hollywood filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. He has been conferred with Padma Shree, fourth highest civilian award from the Govt. of India in 2016.
After his first National Award for Chandani Bar, there was no looking back for him. Success of Chandani Bar was followed by another critically successful film, Satta (2003) which won him the All India Human Rights Association Award, New Delhi. Bhandarkar roped in actress Konkona Sen Sharma for his next film, Page 3 (2005). The film was a box office hit, was also favored by the critics, and made him a recipient of National Award for the second time. His next release was the movie Corporate (2006), exposing the dark side of business world, was a critical success with box-office hit. Bhandarkar then made the movie Traffic Signal (2007) based on the lives of the people below poverty line who earn their living at the traffic signals in India. This movie again won the hearts of the critics and the audiences. The 54th National Film Awards Jury had chosen him for Best Director award for Traffic Signal, giving him his third National Film Award. Corporate was chosen as a case study for the business school IIM Ahmedabad and Traffic Signal as a case study for the Students of Ranjit Singh College, Indore, India. 2008 saw the release of his expose of the Fashion world in India, Fashion (2008), starring actresses Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut and Mugdha Godse in lead roles. Both Priyanka Chopra and Kangana Ranaut won Best Actress and Best Actress in a supporting role awards respectively at all the major award functions including National Awards for their roles in Fashion.
Bhandarkar then dwelled with a completely different topic in his next film, Jail (2009). The movie, which starred actor Neil Nitin Mukesh, was about an innocent man being framed for the wrong crime. It is needless to say that the movie was critically acclaimed. Bhandarkar then took a break from all seriousness and made his first romantic comedy, Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji (2011). The movie was a slice of life comedy and was a commercial success. The movie starred actors Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi and Omi Vaidya. In July this year, Madhur was awarded another Presidential Award. The Ministry of Human Resource Development, India wanted to acknowledge Madhur’s contributions to Hindi language cinema under the Hindi Service Awards Scheme. The filmmaker was awarded with the Presidential Award, Gangasharan Singh Award, by now-former President Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
His next was much talked about ‘Heroine’ (2012) with Kareena Kapoor in lead role that revolved around the life of a film actress and her struggle in life and in film industry.
Bhandarkar’s last release was film Calendar Girls (2015) starring five newcomers. For the first time, five new female leads were cast together in a film. As the name suggests, the film was about girls who become popular after posing for famous calendars.
Madhur is currently busy with his next titled ‘Indu Sarkar’ starring Kirti Kulhari, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Neil Nitin Mukesh, that is about a stammering poetess who rebels against system during emergency.
Achievements:
International Acclaim:
Chandni Bar, Best Film at Zimbabwe International Film Festival 2003 and Technical Award for Best Background Music Score at Moscow International Film Festival 2003.
Page 3, Official Selection at the Raindance Film Festival, London 2006 and IFFLA Los Angeles 2006. Corporate, Official Selection at the Berlin Asia-Pacific Film Festival 2006.
Fashion, Official Selection at the 31st Moscow International Film Festival 2009, Festival de Festivals, St.Petersburg 2009 and Norway Bollywood Festival 2009.
Retrospective of Page 3,Traffic Signal and Fashion with Russian Sub-Titles held by the Ministry of Culture, Russia and SOVEXPORTFILM in Moscow 2009.
Retrospective of Chandni Bar, Page 3, Corporate, Traffic Signal, Fashion and Jail at the 33rd Cairo International Film Festival 2009.
Honored by The Office of Public Advocate, City of New York in May 2013.
Sophia Award at the Syracuse International Film Festival in October 2013.
Creative spirit and Visionary Director’s Award at House of Commons, UK (2013 – 14).
Rafi Peer Memorial Award in Lahore, Pakistan in February 2015.
National Acclaim:
Padma Shree by Govt. of India in 2016
National Awards
Chandni Bar – 4 National Awards(Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress) conferred by the then President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Page 3 – 3 National Awards (Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Editing) conferred by the then President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Traffic Signal – 2 National Awards (Best Director, Best Make-up) conferred by the present President of India Smt. Pratibhatai Patil.
Gangasharan Singh Award (2009) – Awarded by the HRD Ministry of India, this Presidential Award was given to him for his contribution to Hindi Cinema.
Appointed on the Steering Committee of IFFI 2013 by the I&B Mnistry, Govt of India
Shri Bhandarkar has been awarded by Kalaranjani Awards – (2005), Mayor of Mumbai – Excellency Award (2006), Pride of Nation Award, Kesari Gaurav Sanman, Lions Gold Award (2005-06) (2008-09), IMPPA Awards, Asian Film Foundation Award (2008), Farsa Award (2009), P L Deshpande Award (2010), Raj Kapoor Smriti Award (2014), Iconic Man of the Decade by Women Economic Forum held in Goa in 2015, Honorary Doctorate Degree in Arts by a Gujarat based Rai University in 2016, Nominated as Member of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata by Information and Broadcasting Ministry in 2017.
Filmography:
Trishakti (1999), Chandni Bar (2001), Satta (2003), Page 3 (2005), Corporate (2006), Traffic Signal (2007), Fashion (2008), Jail (2009), Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji (2011), Heroine (2012), Calendar Girls (2015)
