Writer146;s block

This small office in north Mumbai is where Madhur Bhandarkar has written all his scripts

Spread along the length of a wall in Madhur Bhandarkar8217;s study in his small office in Mumbai is a collage of archetypal movie images8212;a thoughtful Guru Dutt Madhur8217;s favourite director, the Clark Gable-Vivien Leigh clinch from Gone With The Wind his favourite Hollywood film, the signature totem of the grand old Prabhat Studio nymphs blowing trumpet, an art impression of The Mark of Zorro and at the centre8212;a dancing Tabu from Chandni Bar. Bhandarkar would rather point out the smaller imprint of a 1000-rupee note in the sketch done by a JJ School of Arts student. 8220;That8217;s a reminder of the practical, essential for any creative artist who wants to realise his dreams,8221; he says.

For the last eight-nine months, the room has been the director8217;s most preferred haunt. 8220;Starting with Page 3, all my films like Corporate, Traffic Signal and now Fashion which he has just finished writing have been written here,8221; says Bhandarkar. The shooting of his 8216;realistic8217; take on the fashion industry with Priyanka Chopra in the lead will start in December. 8220;We are aiming for a March release.8221;

As we talk, Bhandarkar is reclined on a couch. In the opposite corners are two bean bags and a table which has a laptop on it. A cupboard full of DVDs and books on cinema is in another corner. 8220;But I am yet to learn computers and turn laptop-savvy. I still prefer dictating my thoughts and scripts to my assistants who type it out. The sitting is done in a way that I can brainstorm with my co-writers for hours at length in a relaxed atmosphere,8221; he says. To unlimited supplies of tea and coffee, one may add, after being liberally treated to two special tulsi chais in a span of 45 minutes from the little kitchen off the working room.

The workplace is a typical 2BHK Mumbai apartment converted into office8212;the only difference perhaps are the film posters popping out from various nooks for instance a Traffic Signal poster can be seen from under the AC setup, the heaps of DVDs and a book or two on films.

In the DVD cupboard, Stanley Kubrick8217;s Lolita shares space with the musical Grease, as does The Story So Far with a lesser-known biography of Manmohan Desai on the bookrack. 8220;Though I am known to make realistic cinema, I simply love the Manmohan Desai kind of potboilers and Jeetendra8217;s Madras movies,8221; he says.