Bhandarkar worked in a video cassette library in
Khar, a suburb of
Mumbai. This gave him access to a large collection of movies and he studied film – making through it. After trying his skills with small – time filmmakers as an assistant, Bhandarkar landed up as an assistant to
Ram Gopal Varma. He even played his first cameo in Varma's romantic comedy
Rangeela (1995), where he was the associate director to Varma. A couple of years later he made his directorial debut with
Trishakti (1999) which took more than three years to make. The film had a relatively low key cast and was largely ignored at the box office. In 2001, he directed the crime drama
Chandni Bar starring
Tabu and
Atul Kulkarni in lead roles. The film depicted the gritty life of the
Mumbai underworld, including prostitution,
dance bars and gun crime. It received high critical acclaim upon release, and emerged as a commercial success, elevating Bhandarkar into the top league of filmmakers of Bollywood. The film earned him the
National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues. In 2005, Bhandarkar directed the drama
Page 3 starring
Konkona Sen Sharma, which revolved around the
Page 3 culture and media in the city of Mumbai. Upon release, the film received high critical acclaim and emerged as a commercial success at the box office. It also earned Bhandarkar the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film and the
Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay, in addition to his first nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Director. After helming the corporate drama
Corporate (2006) starring
Bipasha Basu and
Kay Kay Menon, he directed the social drama
Traffic Signal (2007) starring
Kunal Khemu and
Konkona Sen Sharma. The film depicted the lives and travails of people living around a fictitious traffic signal in
Mumbai. Upon release, it received high critical acclaim, but emerged as a middling commercial success at the box office. It earned Bhandarkar the
National Film Award for Best Direction. Bhandarkar's next directorial venture, the drama
Fashion (2008) starring
Priyanka Chopra,
Kangana Ranaut and
Mugdha Godse in lead roles, emerged as his biggest commercial success to date. The film, which explored feminism and female power in the world of Indian fashion, received widespread critical acclaim upon release.
Fashion has widely been regarded as one of the best women-centric films in Bollywood. He next directed the prison drama
Jail (2009), starring
Neil Nitin Mukesh and Mugdha Godse, which depicted the lives of wrongful convicts in Indian jails. The film received mixed reviews from critics and emerged as a below average commercial success at the box office. His next directorial venture, the drama film
Heroine (2012), was based on the glamorous world of the Hindi film industry (Bollywood). Initially set to star
Aishwarya Rai in the lead role, the film starred
Kareena Kapoor as a once – successful film actress whose career is on the decline. Upon release, the film received mixed – to – positive reviews, with Kapoor's performance and Bhandarkar's direction receiving high praise; it also emerged as a commercial success at the box office. Madhur was conferred PL Deshpande Award a.k.a. Zenith Asia Award for significantly shaping the film making culture in his unique works and he has been described as 'the Film Maker of the First Decade of the 21st Century'. On the Silver Jubilee Year of Aashay Film Club, award ceremony took place on 16 Nov at National Film Archive Theatre during the eighth Pulotsav – An Art Festival in Pune. PL Deshpande was a renowned writer, stage and film actor and his literary works are still revered in Maharashtra and others parts of the world. In his honour, Zenith Asia Award was given to Madhur Bhandarkar and his film
Chandni Bar was also screened during the fest amongst landmark 25 films from world cinema. In Nov, 2010 National Film Archive of India (NFAI) announced to preserve all the films of Madhur Bhandarkar. Chandni Bar, Page – 3, Corporate, Traffic Signal, Fashion and Jail found space in Government's Archival data for Indian films. ==Personal life==