Madhur Bhandarkar on his memories of the Yerawada prison that formed a crucial part of his research for Jail that releases tomorrow

Not many filmmakers are capable of making commercial films on serious subjects like the one he chooses and still walk away with three national awards. Madhur Bhandarkar is one of the few directors whose films fetch appreciation from the critics as well as success at the box office. His latest film Jail is all set to release tomorrow and like for all his films, Bhandarkar did extensive research on the subject before starting the project. Three jails in the country – Thane Jail, Dehradun Jail and Yerwada Jail-provided Bhandarkar with the background he needed after he visited all of them early this year.

“Yerawada and Thane Jail helped me a lot to choose proper locations for the film. It’s very difficult to make any perception about something like a prison until and unless you have visited one or you were a part of it. Once I visited these places, my thoughts got clarity and then I was sure how am I going to make my film,” says the director who is all praises for Yerawada jail authorities for the support and information they provided him with. "They were very supportive and were the major source of information on how the jail inmates are kept, what kind of atmosphere is there in jail, their rules and regulations. Incidently, it was from the Yerawada jail from where I hired jail clothes and utensils for the shoot of the movie. We wanted to keep everything real in the movie,” says Bhandarkar.

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