Bollywood biggies turn their attention to Marathi cinema

Priyanka Chopra, Shahrukh Khan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali are in the game

Once counted among the smaller regional movie markets in India, Marathi cinema seems to be slowly but steadily coming into its own. While the success of Sairat, a film about two star-crossed lovers, which was a runaway hit this year, has a role to play in the evolution of Marathi cinema, the other bit is the interest that Bollywood biggies are showing in the market.

Like Tamil and Telugu cinema, Bollywood biggies are producing, directing and even acting in Marathi movies today. Hollywood and Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra, for instance, has just produced and released a Marathi film called Ventilator, which stars Lagaan film-maker Ashutosh Gowariker and Boman Irani. Chopra herself essays  a small role in the film and has also sung a song in it.

She is not the only one to be looking at Marathi films seriously. Actor Shahrukh Khan and Rohit Shetty are jointly working on a Marathi film project, while Sanjay Leela Bhansali has produced a Marathi film called Laal Ishq, starring popular Marathi actor Swwapnil Joshi, this year.

Industry sources say that actors such Akshaye Kumar, who is also fluent in Marathi, is eyeing more Marathi productions in the future. Kumar's film production company called Grazing Goat Pictures, which is a joint venture with television media veteran Ashvini Yardi, three years ago produced a Marathi film called 72 Miles - Ek Pravas.

Studios such as Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Eros International are also ramping up their Marathi productions in an attempt to partake of the growth. Viacom18 Motion Pictures has around 5-7 Marathi movies lined up next year and so does Eros International.

Jehil Thakkar, partner and head, media and entertainment, KPMG, says the market for Marathi films is increasingly becoming bigger and that Marathi movies are moving beyond the confines of that market into the national realm. "Films such as Sairat have demonstrated just that," he says.

"Parallely, Marathi movies are not expensive to make, while their return on investment in terms of box-office collections is increasing. That explains why Bollywood is looking at Marathi cinema seriously today," he adds.

Familiarity with the language and milieu also helps. Chopra, for instance, has asserted in the past that she is comfortable with Marathi. So has Sanjay Leela Bhansali and even Karan Johar, who is rumoured to be adapting Sairat in Hindi, starring Sridevi and Boney Kapoor's daughter Janhavi Kapoor.

While the Marathi movie market is small at Rs 150-200 crore in comparison to its counterparts in Tamil and Telugu, which are at least 10-15 times larger, the growth rate of Marathi cinema is ahead of its south Indian counterparts, according to industry estimates.

Thakkar says that the Marathi movie market is growing at an annual clip of about 40-45 per cent, faster than the south Indian movie market, which has a larger base. At least 50-60 Marathi movies are produced annually now versus 20-30 a few years ago.

Veteran Bollywood producer-distributor Shyam Shroff, who owns Mumbai-based Shringar Films, says Marathi movies have also interesting storylines and scripts, which is attracting viewers and producers. "The growth of satellite television has also ensured that the movies have a wider reach beyond theatres. Plus, Marathi film-makers are taking more risks when it comes to exploring new themes," he says.

In the last few years, there have been at least two or three Marathi movies besides Sairat that have done roaring business at the box office. This includes Mahesh Manjrekar's Natsamrat, starring Nana Patekar and Vikram Gokhale, and the Ritesh Deshmukh-starrer Lai Bhari.