'Deliberately wanted to make light-hearted comedy like Babli Bouncer'

New Delhi: Director Madhur Bhandarkar said when he announced, 'Babli Bouncer', many people thought the film would be a hard-hitting drama like the previous movies in his filmography.

However, Bhandarkar said he wanted to develop the Tamannaah Bhatia-starrer as a breezy comedy, especially when the world had been through turmoil due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Like all my films, 'Babli Bouncer' also has a social message. My movies have always had humour, be it 'Traffic Signal', 'Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji'. A lot of people thought 'Babli Bouncer' will be a serious film. I deliberately wanted to make a light-hearted comedy film. A heartfelt, breezy movie so that people connect with it. I chose to make a comedy film because of what the world has gone through in two years," the director told a top news agency.

The cast and crew had just started work on the film when the pandemic hit the country, added Bhandarkar.

"Everything was globally locked and the whole industry was going through a crisis. Theatres were shut. We were just watching OTT films, documentaries and series," he said.

Set in Asola Fatehpur, the real 'bouncer town' of North India, 'Babli Bouncer' follows the story of the titular character, played by Bhatia, who moves to Delhi in the pursuit of finding a job and making it big as a bouncer.

The filmmaker, also known for women-centric titles such as 'Satta', 'Chandni Bar' and 'Fashion', said the basic idea of the story came from his writer friend Amit Joshi, but later they decided to create the world around a female bouncer.

"I have always taken strong women as protagonists. I thought, let us make a film from that perspective. Then my writers came in, Amit Joshi and Aradhana Debnath. We also did our research where we came to know how many people came from that village to Delhi for work."

Bhandarkar said he is often labelled as a director who makes 'women-centric films' or 'topical cinema', but he has no qualms about it.

"I have created a genre for myself. I took a break for two to three years. I didn't make a movie. I like to travel. I like to meet people and I like to go to some place abroad or serve on a jury at film festivals. So, I am not a person who has to make a film every year," he added.