#NewsBytesExclusive: Sarang Sathaye on what ails Marathi cinema
Marathi cinema is known for its rich content. Yet, when it comes to its popularity, it still seems to be lagging behind other regional languages, particularly Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada industries. Filmmaker Sarang Sathaye, whose co-directorial Shantit Kranti 2, is premiering on Friday (October 13) on SonyLIV, lists out reasons why the Marathi industry is not as popular as its contemporaries.
Geographical challenges that Marathi cinema faces
Be it Tamil or Kannada films, their biggest territory in terms of finances and audience comes from Chennai and Bengaluru respectively. For Marathi cinema, it comes from Mumbai and Pune, which are metropolitan cities. Marathi cinema shares a big chunk (of audience and finances) with other languages, including Hindi, which does impact the industry. Our audience is distributed unlike for languages in other states.
Transition of Marathi artists to Hindi cinema
The second factor, which I believe is responsible for it to some extent, is that Marathi cinema uses the same script as Hindi, which is Devnagri. Therefore, many Marathi artists immediately move to the Hindi industry because we don't take much time to learn Hindi. A lot of transition of good artists such as filmmaker Laxman Utekar, from Marathi to Hindi has happened.
Need for better producers
Marathi cinema has failed a lot in terms of its producers. In Tamil and Telugu industries, producers are quite more disciplined. A lot of Marathi producers are one-time producers. They either come from real estate or medical backgrounds and produce only one film. What they need to understand is that one film will not set the business, but producing many films will.
Need for proper structure to battle financial delays in films
There's a financial delay and waiting period which is why a lot of young good filmmakers haven't released enough content. For instance, National Award-winning director Nikhil Mahajan, who recently announced Raavsaaheb after facing several financial delays, has made only four films. We need to build a proper approach structure in Marathi cinema where we can tackle financial delays and waiting periods for young filmmakers.
Why he chose a slice-of-life series in times of thrillers
As an audience member, I love watching crime thrillers a lot but I'm also a big fan of iconic slice-of-life shows such as Malgudi Days. When Amitabh Bachchan was the biggest star in India during his Kaala Patthar days, there was an audience for Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Choti Si Baat too. Multiple genres can be released and survive at the same time.
A memory from 'Shantit Kranti 2's shooting
The most difficult leg that we shot was in Vrindavan, and it was because of monkeys. We were asked not to wear spectacles because monkeys steal them. In return, you have to bribe them with nothing but Frooty, or else they break the specs. I've never worn lenses but those two days, I had to work wearing them. It was a task.
