“At 22, I was a delivery boy, then started a video cassette library…” says filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar

The filmmaker gets nostalgic about dressing up like Rajesh Khanna, puppy love, his life before films and belonging to a middle-class family

Where were you career-wise?

Madhur Bhandarkar with his parents Ramchandra and Shanta

Before starting my own video cassette library, I was a delivery boy.

And your bank balance…?

Once I started the library, I managed some savings and bought two bicycles and video cassettes aplenty. I’d recycle my earnings back into the business.

Madhur’s look inspired by Rajesh Khanna

What was the family situation like?

Ours was a middle-class family of four. I lived with my mother, elder sister Kavita and dad, who was an electric contractor. I was the main earning member.

Any romance in the air?

I liked a girl I had befriended. Nothing came out of it; it was puppy love.

Madhur’s fan moment with Shatrughan Sinha. Later he went on to direct Shatrughan in Aan – Men At Work

Any fashion icon?

Rajesh Khanna. I wore bell bottoms with a kurta and a broad belt.

Were you already pursuing a goal?

I had decided that one day I would become a filmmaker and silence all those who had scoffed at me when I had shared my ambition with them. If not a film director, I would have wanted to be a film journalist.

Madhur with his cousin Nitin Bhandarkar at Vaishno Devi temple

Tell us your quirky personality trait.

I loved the cinema-going experience. My taste in films was eclectic – entertainers made by Subhash Ghai, Manmohan Desai, and Rajkumar Kohli as well as arthouse fare by Basu Bhattacharya, Govind Nihalani and Shyam Benegal.

What were you reading at that age?

James Hadley Chase and film magazines like Picturepost, Target, Screen. At times, I would buy Stardust from the raddiwala.

Madhur waiting to enter Vaishno Devi temple with his cousin Nitin Bhandarkar

And your prized possession?

I collected stamps.

What aspect of that time fires up nostalgia?

There was a certain innocence in people at that time, which we have lost thanks to technology. Today, our kids Google any query. As a child, I would go to a neighbour and ask for an answer.

All set to go see Roti Kapda Aur Makaan at Gaiety in its re-release with fresh prints

What was your biggest life lesson at 22?

Never give up.

From HT Brunch, February 7, 2021

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