Madhur Bhandarkar pays tribute to Malgudi Days

Madhur Bhandarkar uses caricatures inspired by TV show Malgudi Days, for opening titles in Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji. Read on to know more about the film.

When director Madhur Bhandarkar spent his idle afternoons watching Malgudi Days on Doordarshan back in the day, he made mental notes to somehow pay tribute to the show. Years later, he found the perfect opportunity when he directed his just-released rom-com Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji.



The movie’s opening credits contain a pictorial tribute to the cult TV show, with caricatures created around the characters. "The show fascinated me. Of course, Shankar Nag (director) was a huge source of inspiration. I made up my mind that whenever I made a rom-com, I would try to pay tribute to the show somehow," says Bhandarkar.

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For the filmmaker, whose cinematic choices have mostly been around topics that depict our social environment, Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji was the perfect subject for him to show his adulation. "I sat with my group of graphic artistes and gave them the photo stills that needed to be worked into caricatures," says Bhandarkar.



The director adds that since the caricatures are designed around situations in the movie, they work as the perfect lasso for the audience to familiarise themselves with the characters in Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji.

“It’s a very old-school concept borrowed from movies like Padosan which has a similar beginning with caricatures. It is an attempt to engage the audience,” says Bhandarkar.