Madhur Bhandarkar

Madhur Bhandarkar (born 26 August 1968) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer. In 2016, Bhandarkar was honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour, by the Government of India.

He is known for directing the critically acclaimed crime drama Chandni Bar (2001), won him the National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues, the dramas Page 3 (2005), Traffic Signal (2007), and Fashion (2008), winning the National Film Award for Best Feature Film for the first, and the National Film Award for Best Direction for the second, whilst earning Filmfare Award nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay for the lattermost.

Bhandarkar also co – produced a Bengali film Avijatrik (2021) based on the novel Aparajito by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali. He has also been nominated as society member of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

Bhandarkar worked in a video cassette library in Khar, a suburb of Mumbai. This gave him access to a large collection of movies and he studied film – making through it.

After trying his skills with small – time filmmakers as an assistant, Bhandarkar landed up as an assistant to Ram Gopal Varma. He even played his first cameo in Varma's romantic comedy Rangeela (1995), where he was the associate director to Varma.

A couple of years later he made his directorial debut with Trishakti (1999) which took more than three years to make. The film had a relatively low key cast and was largely ignored at the box office.

In 2001, he directed the crime drama Chandni Bar starring Tabu and Atul Kulkarni in lead roles. The film depicted the gritty life of the Mumbai underworld, including prostitution, dance bars and gun crime. It received high critical acclaim upon release, and emerged as a commercial success, elevating Bhandarkar into the top league of filmmakers of Bollywood. The film earned him the National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues.

In 2005, Bhandarkar directed the drama Page 3 starring Konkona Sen Sharma, which revolved around the Page 3 culture and media in the city of Mumbai. Upon release, the film received high critical acclaim and emerged as a commercial success at the box office. It also earned Bhandarkar the National Film Award for Best Feature Film and the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay, in addition to his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.