Maryam Farooqui Moneycontrol News
In the list of new movie releases last Friday, a special mention goes to Madhuri Dixit’s debut Marathi film Bucket List, which has earned Rs 3.66 crore in three days and is playing on 409 screens. But the question is why does this film need a special mention?
The journey of a Marathi film is not as easy as that of a Hindi one, which still casts its long shadow across the Indian film industry. In addition, limited marketing budgets and lackluster promotions are some of the reasons that act as stumbling blocks for Marathi movies. Hence, a strong run of a film from this segment requires a special mention.
But this segment has also enjoyed its share of attention from audiences thanks to strong content, new-age writers and filmmakers, and unusual subjects. And factors like state government’s grants and subsidies to the Marathi films have led to renaissance of sorts in Marathi cinema in the last decade-and-a-half.
The proof of this is the massive earnings of films like Sairat, which is the all-time highest grossing Marathi film. The film, which was made at a budget of Rs 4 crore, entered the coveted Rs 100 crore club by minting approximately Rs 110 crore which is a feat not many Marathi films have achieved.
Then came Nana Patekar’s Aapla Manus, which clocked in Rs 20 crore in the first 50 days of its release this year. In 2014, Riteish Deshmukh-starrer Lai Bhaari minted more than Rs 40 crore with a budget of Rs 7 crore.
The success story of this segment doesn’t end with strong collections of one or two films — the Marathi film industry as a whole is witnessing a change. According to an EY report, the Marathi film segment releases about 100-120 films on an average every year, which was as low as 20 films a year about a decade ago.
The segment has found recognition as content-driven cinema have earned critical acclaim in the international festival circuit. In 2017, films such as Lapachhapi, a horror film, and Kaccha Limbu, a movie from the drama genre, were well received at the box office and also found acclaim at film festivals.
Over the years, Marathi films have shown growth. In 2016, the Marathi film industry performed well at the box office owing to success of strong content-driven movies, according to a KPMG report.
Sairat, without any A-list star, became a huge success. It was released in around 500 screens across India whereas a Marathi movie is generally released in 250-300 screens and is restricted to Maharashtra, reaffirming the fact that good content is appreciated across different markets irrespective of language.
Also, government initiatives like zero entertainment tax for Marathi language movies, subsidy to Marathi film producers, mandated exhibition window and controlled production costs make Marathi film industry a superior business case for investment by major production houses in India.
The Marathi film industry showed a growth of about 40-45 percent in 2015, benefitting from the state government’s rule of screening at least one show of a Marathi film in a multiplex during primetime.
Its resurgence in the last few years has produced an assortment of coming-of-age films, social dramas, biopics as well as commercial films for the masses. Court, a multi lingual art-house drama, was chosen as India’s contender in the foreign film category at the 2016 Academy Awards apart from having won several national and international awards.
While film trade pundits say Marathi cinema is on revival mode, it still faces tough competition from Bollywood and experts worry that this could result in Marathi films matching up to Hindi films in terms of genre and style, making them look like a Bollywood venture.
It is important for Marathi films to not give up their USP, which is frugally— and intelligently— producing, promoting and releasing films without compromising on any artistic aspect.
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