About the Couple
Noted film director Madhur Bhandarkar once ran a small video cassette library, moved on to playing errand boy and later became assistant director to several film directors including Ram Gopal Varma. The turning point in his life was the National Award winning Chandni Bar, which was his second film after his debut Trishakti. He is now working on Page Three, a film starring Konkona Sen, which depicts the life and trials of a journalist on the celebrity beat.

The sweet and friendly Renu Namboodri, is the daughter of an ex-Naval personnel and is from the Dahisar suburb in Mumbai. An interiors graduate from the Raheja college, she is now a freelance interior designer. Though not a movie freak, Renu has watched all of Bhandarkar's films. Her most recent work was designing Madhur's new office at Andheri.

How They Met
Madhur and Renu have known each other since many years. “We were introduced through common friends and were friends for a long time”, says the tall, dark and handsome Madhur who was once linked to Raveena Tandon and Lara Dutta. “What specially attracted me to Renu was her simplicity and very practical approach to life.” As a noted film journo quipped before Madhur’s marriage: “Madhur is smart, he probably realised that industry girls aren't marriage material.”

The Simple Wedding
The film director who is known for his realism and simplicity (he still lives in his one bedroom hall flat at Khar and continues to travel by bus and train very often) had a morning wedding on December 15, 2003 at Mumbai’s Khar Gymkhana. The function was simple but celebrities from all walks of life graced the occasion. There were many parliamentarians (Madhur’s other association being the political film Satta) and of course the who’s-who from the Hindi film industry: Subhash Ghai, Jaya Bachchan, Jackie Shroff and Tabu.

Renu, Madhur and Tabu

The Wedding Day Look
The bride wore a maroon and gold Kanjeevaram saree from Paneri. Madhur opted for a cream and gold sherwani with off-white work and a gold crepe tissue crushed stole. His outfit was designed by Seyam, who design stylish sherwanis and kurtas for Mumbai’s who’s-who including Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan.

Renu, Madhur, Vinod Kambli and Madhur's mother

Madhur on Wedding Celebrations
Interestingly, Madhur did not even print wedding invitation cards. “I invited everyone through telephone calls and SMS’. And dropped in personally to invite a few senior people like Jaya Bachhanji.” For Madhur, a mega wedding celebration was an absolute no-no. “When I am making my next film called Page 3, which exposes and spoofs hypocrisy in high-society, I guess I should practise what I preach by avoiding a synthetic filmi wedding just to get media hype”. The day after the wedding the couple were back to their usual work schedule and have postponed their honeymoon break to a later date.

Here's wishing Madhur and Renu a happy married life!