Madhur Bhandarkar says he approached several actors before casting Konkona Sen Sharma in Page 3: ‘It was very difficult for me to make this movie’

He added, “It was very difficult for me to make this movie as I didn’t have a great budget for it, neor big actors to support it. I am thankful to my producers who believed in me. It was difficult to convince them because they weren’t able to understand what Page 3 exactly was.”

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Madhur Bhandarkar also shared that he couldn’t get any big actor on board, either due to their busy schedule or high fees. “We approached several actors. Some were busy, while others were an issue for us due to their fees. Finally, we cast Konkona Sen Sharma. She was very new in the Mumbai film industry at that time. She believed in the script and me,” he shared.

Madhur continued, “Boman Irani, Atul Kulkarni, all the actors contributed a lot in this film. To meet the mid-size budget of the film, many actors lowered their price because they really wanted to be a part of Page 3.”

Meanwhile, Konkona Sen Sharma recently shared a series of pictures from the shooting of Page 3 with a heartfelt note, which read, “I can hardly believe ‘PAGE 3’ released 20 years ago! My first experience of filming in Bombay. This was 2005, the year of the flood and the year I moved to this city which has now been my home for over two decades. Thank you @imbhandarkar for Madhvi Sharma, a character I received so much love for.”

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Page 3 won three awards at the 2005 National Film Awards. The film was also a box office success.