Madhur Bhandarkar: 'I wanted Babli Bouncer to be premiered on OTT'

Madhur Bhandarkar wears many hats — he is a film director, script writer, and producer. The National Award-winning director is known for providing iconic characters on screen. The director, who has helmed several critically-acclaimed film is now up for the release of his next Babli Bouncer. The movie stars Tamannaah Bhatia and will release on Disney+Hotstar.

Elaborating on the subject of Babli Bouncer, he reveals, “Babli Bouncer highlights the word ‘bouncer.’ What happens in the world of these bouncers? I had another hard-hitting subject but was looking forward to a light comedy and Babli Bouncer I felt could do well from word of mouth. It is about a village girl who lands up in Delhi. No filmmaker has ever touched this subject of female bouncers. I have shown this tale in a humorous way. As a filmmaker, I try to depict a world that I have never seen. I wanted to direct a film that could be watched by the entire family together.”

He describes the process of writing the script. “We started writing the script in 2019. Everything came to a standstill after the outbreak of the pandemic. I made India Lockdown in 2021. We started shooting Babli Bouncer in February. I don’t do any workshops. I start with the camera and bring out the performance from the actor. I kept a coach for the Haryana accent. Tamannaah has worked in both South and Hindi, so I wanted her to be fluent in Haryanvi. She has performed exuberantly. I always act and show it to the actors. She wanted to work with me because she believed I could bring out the best in her, as I had done with all of the heroines in my films. I don’t like to take more than one or two takes.”

Talking about the premiere on an OTT platform, he mentions, “I wanted this film to be premiered on OTT as audiences from all over the world are going to watch it. I have no regrets if it’s not released in theatres. Of late, we hardly find family films releasing in theatres.”

Madhur is known for his script selection. He reveals about his next theatrical watch. “I have more great original scripts. This not-so-good phase which will disappear. Watching films in theatres will never die. On OTT, we have consumed so much. This has definitely entertained all of us. This platform has taken us worldwide, watching films from all over the world. We have various platforms and different content to watch. Yes, we need to write our scripts with all the necessary ingredients that are needed to entertain our audiences today,” he signs off.