It’s a different world inside a jail, says Madhur

He may have been showered with critical acclaim for most films he has made, but filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar still describes himself as a “student of cinema”, who feels every film he makes is like “taking a test”.

He may have been showered with critical acclaim for most films he has made, but filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar still describes himself as a “student of cinema”, who feels every film he makes is like “taking a test”.

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Talking about his next venture, Jail, Bhandarkar says, “As a part of my research, I interacted with various inmates. I even had jail ka khaana.” But the experience, he says, was far from intimidating: “In fact, the inmates seemed intimidated by us. It’s a completely different world inside the jail. Many of them are nice people who landed up there because of a crime of passion and are now forced to live on hope.”

The director, who has often been accused of coming across as homophobic in his films, is evidently uncomfortable with the tag. “I feel upset at being called homophobic. I show people as they are and my movies aren’t judgmental. I don’t claim they’re an expose on any subject, but you can’t be in denial about their existence either. My films have people from all walks of life.”