Her Excellency, Honorable President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil confers realistic film director, Madhur Bhandarkar with National Award for The Best Film Director of the year 2007, for his film Traffic Signal. The award was conferred in Delhi on 2nd September, 2008. The prize money consisted of Rs.2.5 Lakh which Madhur announced to donate it all to the families to three farmers from Vidharbha who had committed suicide in the face of extreme financial hardship.
'I never gave much through to donating any prize money to a social cause. This year, I came across many stories of farmers who had ended their lives to evade the debt trap they were in. It was extremely moving for me and hence I decided to donate the prize money. I always wanted to help underprivileged and this is an honor to serve the society,' he quips.
The three farmers whose families have been chosen by Bhandarkar for the charity are Kashinath Dagdu, Prakash Darne and Shamrao Kannake. Dagdu had ended his life after the much hyped loan waiver was announced by the Centre last year. His wife, Kamal Waghmare, still lives in abject poverty along with her children in Buldhana. Prakash Darne from Yavatmal committed suicide on June 28, 2007 as he found that he simply couldn't repay a loan of Rs 56,000. His wife Sangeeta is as helpless as her dead husband and does not know how to fend for her two daughters and a son. One of her daughters is visually impaired. Shamrao Kannake committed suicide on February 17, 2007 after he was unable to pay back Rs 16,200 he borrowed. For the Kannake family in Yavatmal, that fateful day brought twin tragedies. Shamrao's father too gave up his life the same day. Kannake's wife Sugandha is still trying to make both ends meet.
Asked how he selected these three families, he said, 'After thorough research, I shotlisted them.' Madhur has won three national awards till date. First was for Chandni Bar, which was given to him for The Best Social Film of the year 2002. Than came Page 3, which changed the entire stature of Madhur Bhandarkar. This film, apart from winning him rave reviews, also won the National Award in The Best Feature Film category. Film Traffic Signal now becomes his third in a row National Award, as he is been awarded the Best Film Director award for the year 2007 for Traffic Signal.
Madhur recalls these as one of the greatest moments of his life. 'I thank my audience, my fans and all those people who saw the movie. It is this love and affection of the audience, that gives me the immense freedom of creativity and deliver something very new and out of league. As my movies always portray a real face of the society every time, I really want to help people by any means', he quips.
The director, who is known for making films on social issues, is taking his first major leap toward a real cause. With Hat-trick of National awards already under his belt, Madhur's 'Fashion', which is making quiet a buzz and is awaiting to unfold many surprises, will now be reviewed with much more anticipation and expectations.