Madhur Bhandarkar directed films like Chandni Bar and Fashion among others.
Madhur Bhandarkar talks about the ‘Boycott Bollywood’ trends and says that it is ‘just a phase’.
From Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha to Ranbir Kapoor’s Brahmastra; several Bollywood films faced boycott calls last year. In a recent interview, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, who directed films like Chandni Bar and Fashion among others, talked about the same and explained that it is ‘just a phase’.
“It has happened many times before. Like in the case of Gangubai Kathiawadi, people watched it and it was nice. I think this (boycott culture) is a phase. If the film is nice and the content is strong, people will go and watch. People watched Kantara, The Kashmir Files, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, it’s not like people don’t go to watch the movies,” he told Maniesh Paul on his podcast.
Bhandarkar argued how boycott calls increased after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and went on to say that maybe the late actor was ‘ignored’ by the industry. Sushant was found hanging in his Mumbai apartment in June 2020.
“I have noticed that this (boycott) happened largely after the passing of Sushant Singh Rajput. Maybe the industry ignored him… He was from a non film background and he came and he struggled… It was a very unfortunate, untimely demise and from there, the anger amid the public got aggravated. It is the public’s opinion,” he said.
In 2017, Madhur Bhandarkar’s Indu Sarkar also faced some political opposition since it was set during the Emergency time. Talking about the same, the filmmaker claimed that no one supported him back then. He revealed that he felt bad about it and told Maniesh, “I had no one. No one from the film industry stood by my side . A lot of people who speak about freedom of expression, no one even tweeted when my film was in trouble. I have always stood for other people’s movies. I was feeling bad, I was fighting a lonely battle.”
