Humility in the face of success

Mumbai: Madhur Bhandarkar, a man of many shades, ambitious, observant and real! He is a good friend and an  observant filmmaker. I remember a dinner party of mine, where he just stood like a fly on the wall and noticed interactions of the guests present. He just moved around, looking, drinking in the ambience and making mental notes. After which he had churned out Page 3. I was riveted by some real-life sequences in the film which I realised come from a combination of his modest beginnings and his power of observation.

I’ve known him for years, nothing changes him, from his unpretentious start to today. What keeps it real for Madhur? With actors falling over themselves to act in his films, he is very down to earth and does not take himself too seriously. I’ve seen how easy it is for Bollywood denizens to let success go to their heads and start behaving abnormally high-handed with just one successful film. However, Madhur stays balanced and handles success well.

His is an enchanting journey of a video cassette delivery boy to a famed film-maker with an intensive education in films as a by-product of his career. Videos, magazines, trade guides, journals et al I see even now strewn in Madhur Bhandarkar’s home, as I had seen some fifteen years ago in his one-room home in a Mumbai suburb. Today, his home is more comfortable, but definitely not ostentatious. Especially, post the box office successes he’s delivered with the magical Tabu (Chandni Bar), Kareena (Heroine) and Priyanka (Fashion) at a time when big blockbusters that were announced with such aplomb disappeared without so much as a whimper. “When I see shallow people, it is a reality check for me I don’t want to become that way,” he says.

Madhur’s philosophy is that he does not believe in high or low societies. He simply believes in making good movies. He says, “I was a social pariah at filmi parties after a terrible flop. My turning point came when I converted my observations of visits to bars with friends and my empathy with what I noticed to celluloid. Being fake and letting success go to one’s head leads to downfall.”

He further adds, “The shallowness of Mumbai society and Bollywood doesn’t interest me. I just laugh with my friends, who have been with me since I started out in life and career. They keep me grounded and real. When I am doing well suddenly more friends mushroom from everywhere. When I deliver a flop, these ‘so-called friends’  suddenly disappear. I just enjoy seeing these equations change so mercurially. The film industry is very superficial. No permanent friendships no permanent enmity it amuses me.”

His philosophy to stay grounded is what keeps him as real as possible. “I am a school dropout and I don’t come from a filmy family. I’ve seen famed actors being made to sit on the fourth row if their film did badly. I enjoy being a spectator, with a fly on-the-the-wall attitude. My sanity is retained because I know there is no reality in the glamour world, which I try and depict in my films.”

Madhur’s approach to life is what allows his work to retain the slice of life feel. “I see no film as commercial or artsy. For me a film is about telling a story well.”
Calendar Girls, his next release, is a film about how girls, who hanker for glamour and the fast lane of Mumbai life, are in and out like a flash in the pan, with their face and body becoming jaded in no time.

A great philosophy for keeping it real is retaining humility because  success and fame are both pointless if they make you odious and bombastic, as we’ve seen many a Bollywood personality become.

The author is a luxury consultant and lifestyle columnist. You can mail her at nishajamvwal@gmail.com