Madhur Bhandarkar Recalls Life's Struggles, Says ‘Sold Video Cassettes To S*x Workers, Underworld'

Madhur Bhandarkar is regarded as one of the most talented filmmakers in Bollywood. He is known for his realistic portrayal of life in films like Fashion, Heroin, Chandni Bar, Page 3, and more. He has worked with notable celebrities like Tabu, Konkana Sen, and Priyanka Chopra. Kareena Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut. However, his journey to fame was not easy. Recalling his humble beginnings, the filmmaker said he had a tough life before he entered the film industry.

The ace director said he worked odd jobs to fulfil his needs and left school at a young age to support his family after they got into financial trouble. He struggled for several years before directing his first film. One of the odd jobs Bhandarkar took included delivering video cassettes as a teen. He sold them to everyone in Mumbai, from sex workers to Bollywood celebrities and even the underworld.

Speaking to Pinkvilla, Madhur said, "Some circumstances came in our (lower middle-class) family that we went far below the poverty line. I couldn't afford to go to school also, and I failed too. So I started doing odd jobs at a young age. At that time, in 1983-84, video cassettes just came into trend, and I felt it can be a business.

"So I would buy cassettes for ₹10 at one place and sell them at ₹30 to others. I first started as a delivery boy in 1982. For three to four months, I would deliver cassettes for others before I started my own business. Money started coming in, I would deliver cassettes to all houses," he added.

He further added, "I started on a bicycle and later I got a scooter. For three years, I delivered cassettes to all sorts of people-- sex workers, girls from beer bars, the underworld, at skyscrapers and bungalows as well as jhuggi jhopris, and to Bollywood people, to police." He then went on to reveal that he had delivered cassettes to Subash Ghai, Raj Sippi, and Mithun Chakraborty.

Gradually, after a few years when video cassettes became common, Madhur's business failed, and then he had to take up jobs like attaching zips to jeans before he moved to his sister's place in Muscat, where he worked in factories. After returning to Mumbai, he worked as an assistant on film sets.

Madhur Bhandarkar's most recently released film, Babli Bouncer, was released on Disney+ Hotstar, starring Tamannaah Bhatia. Before making his debut as a director with 1999's Trishakti, Bhandarkar had assisted Ram Gopal Varma. The filmmaker gained recognition with his 2001 film Chandni Bar, which also fetched him a National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues.