Yes minister, says Madhur Bhandarkar

Ever since filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar made Kareena Kapoor-starrer Heroine last year, there’ve been a zillion rumours about his next ‘real’ film. Now, we have a scoop — contrary to reports of a love story or a sequel to...

Ever since filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar made Kareena Kapoor-starrer Heroine last year, there’ve been a zillion rumours about his next ‘real’ film. Now, we have a scoop — contrary to reports of a love story or a sequel to Fashion (2008) — Bhandarkar is set to take up another hard-hitting subject — that of neta-nomics and corporate lobbying.

Although the filmmaker is completely tight-lipped on the details, we have come to know that his next will be titled, Madamji. “Madhur isn’t revealing anything right now. Even his team members aren’t privy to all the details. But in all likelihood, the project will go on the floor next year,” says an industry insider.

If the buzz is anything to go by, the central character could either be that of a chief minister or a corporate lobbyist — and real-life comparisons seem inevitable. “It will be like an archetypal Bhandarkar-style film — very realistic and hard-hitting. So expect him not to hold back any punches but right now, he isn’t ready to reveal anything,” adds the insider. Bhandarkar has won National Awards for films such as Page 3 (2005), Chandni Bar (2001) and Traffic Signal (2007).

“This time too, his film will tackle a contemporary topic with his style of story treatment. He is in talks with top female stars for his film but nothing is finalised yet,” adds the source. Earlier, rumours were rife that Bhandarkar was set to direct a love story titled Mar Jawaa. Soon after, it was suggested that a sequel to Fashion is going to come up soon. And if that was not enough, it was reported that he is planning to make a film titled Calendar Girl, for which he has approached Deepika Padukone.

The director, however, denied these reports through his Twitter page. Despite repeated attempts, Bhandarkar couldn’t be reached for a comment on details of his project.