Madhur Bhandarkar speaks about his fashion

By: Joginder Tuteja, IndiaFM
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

For the last 2-3 days, the news that has been making the rounds in the industry is Madhur Bhandarkar's transition to directing advertisement films. He talks about the experience of entering a different battle ring in between fulfilling his dream of bringing his successful trilogy ['Page 3', 'Corporate' and 'Traffic Signal'] to celluloid and completing the script of his much awaited Fashion.

"There was no conscious decision to become an ad film maker", says an ever energetic Bhandarkar, "I had been going full steam with scripting Fashion when this friend of mine approached me to direct the commercial. It is for a leading jewellery store in Delhi and since it was a friend calling, I couldn't say no."

How was the experience? "I could go on to say how exciting or challenging it was but over and above that, what enthralled me most was a complete changeover in the setting, my style of direction and overall visuals", reveals Madhur.

Can he elaborate? "Imagine telling a tale in those 30 seconds? I had to think innovatively and concentrate even more to get the right magic on the screen. Having said that, a project may be two hours long or 30 seconds, I have to ensure that the realistic streak is there in the frames. Guess, old habits die hard", he says cheekily.

Well, that does sound true. He has cultivated a habit of roping in strong women actors in his films whether it is Chandni Bar [Tabu], Page 3 [Konkana Sen] or Corporate [Bipasha Basu]. One now hears that Priyanka Chopra or Kareena Kapoor could be next for his Fashion.

"I continue to keep my lips sealed on this, as always", he says with a wink, "We should be having an announcement soon and the world would know about the final cast. You never know, there may be a surprise or two in store. Till then let me enjoy my newfound ad world!"

For the uninitiated, the ad has been shot on sets in Mumbai with desert as a background. There are also a lot of special effects involved going with the mystic theme of the advertisement's concept. While Delhi based Piyush Vani is the male model, well know ramp-walker Mugdha Godse is his female partner. The production boasts of names like Nitin Desai as the art director and Shamir Tandon as the composer.