Marathi film industry happy, says govt move will generate audience inter

When Poshter Boyz was ready for release last year, its producer Shreyas Talpade had a tough time getting a prime time slot at multiplexes for it. After being repeatedly told by distributors that some “major” Hindi films were lined up for release and hence it was impossible to find the desired slot, the actor-turned-producer had to settle for lesser screens.

Welcoming the state government’s decision to screen a Marathi movie in the prime time, he said, “From a producer’s point of view, it is a great move. Maybe the approach is debatable but I’ve seen what all a Marathi movie has to go through, when a distributor tells that you can’t have your film in a prime time slot because a Hindi movie that released the previous week is still doing well. Or, yet another Hindi release is coming up.”

Even as the row over the announcement made by Maharashtra’s Culture Minister Vinod Tawde continues, the Marathi film industry is happy with the move. Though most of the industry bigwigs are still not sure if it would increase their earnings, they believe it would give Marathi cinema more visibility.

Actor-producer Riteish Deshmukh says, “For the past few years, Marathi cinema is coming up with some great content. Yet, their box-office collection is not very high, it restricts the budget of movies. Very few Marathi filmmakers risk spending more than Rs 3 crore on a project.” Deshmukh — who has produced National Award-winning Yellow and features as the lead actor in Lai Bhaari, the highest grossing Marathi film of all time — adds that people might see the government’s decision as a “diktat” but this would help the industry to grow more self-sufficient.

When multiplexes were initially set up around 2005, recalls veteran actor Sachin Pilgaonkar, getting a desired show timing was not a problem. But it became increasingly difficult as the years went by. This does not augur well for the industry. “Unlike olden days when we used to release a Marathi movie in Western Maharashtra first and then gradually moved to other parts, we try for simultaneous releases. Today, we have to grab the market in the first three weeks,” he says.

Mahesh Manjrekar, a successful Marathi film director and producer, finds the controversy over the announcement unnecessary. “The state generates maximum revenue for Hindi films. Today, with Marathi films making their mark internationally, what’s wrong if one show in one screen out of seven is given to Marathi,” asks Manjrekar, who is currently helming an ambitious celluloid adaptation of the famous Marathi play, Natsamrat. Manjrekar is looking at a Diwali release for this movie featuring Marathi stalwarts Nana Patekar and Vikram Gokhale. According to him, getting a prime time slot for his next release might not help recover the cost but could generate the audience interest in it.

According to Nittin Keni, CEO of Essel Vision Film Productions, the market of Marathi movies is not very large in spite of the good content. “Other than Maharashtra, these movies are screened in certain pockets of Indore and Gujarat with Marathi population,” he says. However, some of the movies produced by Essel have done very well in the recent past and he expects the business to grow further. Cases in point are Duniyadari, Timepass 30 and Lai Bhaari that grossed around Rs 25 crore, Rs 30 crore and Rs 35 crore respectively. He hopes to continue the impressive run at the box-office with the banner’s next release Timepass 2 that hits the theatres on May 1.

Deshmukh sums up the impact this new norm is likely to have, “Having a prime time slot does not mean competing with the fare that Bollywood or Hollywood is churning out. This, however, would offer more choices.”

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com

Source:: Indian Express