Madhura Bhandarkar’s critically acclaimed 2005 film Page 3 depicts the glamorous but hollow world of high society, media and entertainment in Mumbai.
Madhura Bhandarkar’s Page 3 recently completed 20 years of its release. The critically acclaimed 2005 film depicts the glamorous but hollow world of high society, media and entertainment in Mumbai.
Starring Konkona Sen Sharma as a journalist, Page 3 opened the eyes of many. In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Bhandarkar reflected on the film’s casting process and the audience’s reception.
In the video, the filmmaker revealed that Page 3 faced scepticism from the very beginning. “When I announced this film, many people made fun of it and laughed on hearing the title. After watching the film, those people called me and said they were wrong. It was the most difficult subject to make a film on,” Bhandarkar said.
“It was very difficult for me to make this film because I didn’t have a huge budget, no big actors to support it. I am thankful to my producers who believed in me. It was difficult to convince them because they didn’t understand what Page 3 really was.”
Madhur Bhandarkar also revealed that he couldn’t rope in any big actor, either because of their busy schedules or the high fees they were asking for. “We approached many actors. Some were busy, while others were a problem for us because of their fees. Finally, we cast Konkona Sen Sharma.
She was very new to the Mumbai film industry at that time. She believed in the script and me,” he said. “Boman Irani, Atul Kulkarni, all the actors contributed a lot to this film,” he added. To meet the film’s medium-sized budget, several actors reduced their fees as they really wanted to be a part of Page 3.
Meanwhile, Konkona Sen Sharma recently shared several pictures from the shoot of Page 3, along with an emotional note which read, “I can’t believe ‘Page 3’ released 20 years ago! My first experience of filming in Bombay.
It was 2005, the year of the floods and the year I moved to this city that has been my home for two decades now. Thank you @imbhandarkar for Madhavi Sharma, a character I found so much love for.”
Page 3 won three awards at the 2005 National Film Awards. The film was also a box office success.
Madhur Bhandarkar told he approached several actors before casting Konkona Sen Sharma in Page 3: ‘It was very difficult for me to make this film’
