Madhur Bhandarkar fed up of serious cinema

The director, who feels his films on hard-hitting subjects have forced people to slot him as a serious director, admits that stepping out of his winning formula wasn’t easy.

Known for his hard-hitting realistic cinema, National award-inning director Madhur Bhandarkar has shifted focus to commercial films. His next is a romantic comedy, Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji featuring Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi and Omi Vaidya in lead roles.

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The director, who feels his films on hard-hitting subjects have forced people to slot him as a serious director, admits that stepping out of his winning formula wasn’t easy. “Why should I stick to a particular genre? I have always maintained that I want to experiment. I may make a love story, action film or anything else, but they’ll always have my realistic touch,” says Bhandarkar.

Bhandarkar says he respects the fact that people look for controversial films from him, but he wants to explore his humourous side.

A fan of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee’s simple films, Bhandarkar says, “I have a good sense of humour. DTBHJ is not a senseless comedy with cardboard characters.”

The film is about three men — Omi Vaidya as an idealist looking for love, Ajay Devgn as a middle-aged divorcee in love with a young girl, and Emraan Hashmi as a flirt who discovers love. “A man is always a child at heart. This film talks about their problems in life and encounters in love,” says Bhandarkar.

Not wanting to discuss heroine, a project Bhandarkar had to shelve because of Kareena Kapoor’s “non-availability”, he says, “My focus is on the current film. My script wasn’t complete and Kareena is busy too. So heroine has been shelved. I may make it six years from now.”