Monetary boost giving Marathi cinema a new lease of life?

When compared to Bollywood regional cinema is a relatively less expensive proposition Take for instance the Marathi film industryUnlike most Marathi films Sanjay Jadhavrsquos Duniyadari mdash made at a budget of Rs 25 crore mdash was released not only in Maharashtra but also in Gujarat Goa and parts of north Karnataka It grossed over Rd 23 crore Interestingly Jadhavrsquos next film has a budget thatrsquos upwards of Rs 7 croreUsually the cost involved in making a Marathi film hovers somewhere around the budget allocated by a Bollywood venture just for its publicity and advertisements Interestingly though this scenario is slowly changing Undoubtedly Marathi cinema still has a long way to go But the fact is that of late Marathi cinema has received a massive boostTimepass 2014 had a recordbreaking opening weekend of with a collection surpassing Rs 5 crore and eventually grossed Rs 31 crore by the end of its threeweek runRiteish Deshmukhrsquos Lai Bhaari 2014 for one cost Rs 7 crore to make but it earned collections upwards of Rs 40 crore Now two points deserve a mention here Firstly Marathi films are known for their minimalistic approach and thus a Rs 7 crore budget can be best described as whopping as per Marathi industry standardsMade at an lsquoexpensiversquo budget of Rs 7 crore Lai Bhaari 2014 went on to become the highest grossing Marathi movie of all timeSecondly this film went on to collect an impressive R40 crore and that too mostly from its shows in single screen theatres across Maharashtra where ticket prices doesnrsquot really exceed Rs 100Yellow coproduced by Riteish Deshmukh was partly shot in BangkokAnother case in point is Ravi Jadhavrsquos Timepass 2014 which was made within a budget of Rs 2 crore and posted collections of Rs 32 crore Last year Sanjay Jadhavrsquos Duniyadari achieved a similar feat of sorts when the film mdash made with Rs 25 crore mdash collected Rs 24 crore at the box office Jadhavrsquos upcoming Marathi film Pyaar Vali Love Story has cost him Rs 75 croreMahesh ManjrekarClearly budgets and revenue have shot up Samit Kakkad director of the hit Marathi film Aayna Ka Bayna 2012 agrees According to him production houses are compelled by audience expectations to shell out more money ldquoThe credit goes to the audience for supporting the recent revival in Marathi cinema With time theyrsquoll want to watch major productions as wellrdquoRenuka ShahaneOut of the comfort zoneOne canrsquot help but notice that this change has been brought about by a shift in the audiencersquos outlook Until recently Marathi cinema was rooted and it stuck to familiar milieu seldom did it step out of the comfort zone Lai Bhaari did just that it claims to be the first fullfledged action film in Marathi Starring Riteish the ubersuccessful venture undoubtedly had a Bollywood touch to itNagraj Manjule director FandryInterestingly back in the rsquo80s Tamil cinema underwent a similar metamorphosis Suddenly money was being pumped into films thus making the end product look larger than life Is this the path that Marathi cinema will tread on in the notsodistant futureMore than just a trendAccording to producerdirector Mrunalinni Patil itrsquos too early to speak of a big change Patil who helmed the Marathi film Raakhandaar believes that Marathi cinema is better off being minimalistic ldquoWhat we are currently witnessing is a trend where money makes all the difference but itrsquos not a feasible change A majority of filmmakers here canrsquot afford big budgets Nevertheless we are living in interesting times where there are many possibilities and that is a welcome changerdquoIndeed Marathi cinema is going through a paradigm shift itrsquos the youth that is driving boxoffice collections College students and youngsters who would otherwise overlook regional fare and opt to go watch Hindi or Hollywood films are looking forward to Marathi film releases Even the morning shows mdash generally considered to have a low turnout mdash see young audiences in attendance of lateActorturneddirector Renuka Shahane says this positive trend is boosting the morale of producers But she has a word of caution too ldquoItrsquos great if a producer can pump in more than Rs 5 crore into a Marathi film But if the film fails the producer should be able to withstand the lossesrdquoExploring new territoriesGone are the days where Marathi cinema would restrict itself with regards to story ideas or locations these days Marathi films are busy breaking barriers ndash be it in terms of scripts or and even shooting abroad see boxTwo years ago Mahesh Manjrekar made Kaksparsh with Rs 14 crore and earned Rs 14 crore in returns The filmmaker now plans to make a historical film on Shivaji Maharaj but thatrsquos on hold as of now ldquoThe screenplay demands extravagance and Irsquod rather wait for funds than haphazardly make a film just for the heck of itrdquoOf course like in any industry recovering the cost is of utmost importanceLike Duniyadari director Sanjay Jadhav says ldquoTherersquos always tension in cinema business Therersquos no such thing as security or assurance in a film industry Anything can go wrong hererdquoInteresting times indeedHelp at handAccording to a new subsidiary plan a Marathi film is entitled to receive R40 lakh as subsidy provided it stays true to its regional identity Moreover Marathi films are taxfree by default in Maharashtra