As Indians, we love our culture, take pride in our mother tongue and worship cinema no matter which part of the country we belong to. The government of various states launch programs to promote their regional cinema and the young directors are constantly hunting for unconventional bold content.
So, what is it that stops regional cinema from booming? In this case, specifically Marathi cinema. We have been making Marathi cinema for years now and every time there is a hit, we are convinced that we’ve cracked our audience but have we really done it?
We are not denying the fact that there haven’t been hits in the industry. Some of the movies have done wonders at the box office and received equal critical acclamation.
For long, the works of young Marathi filmmakers have been celebrated for being rich in content, technically sound and headlined by some of the finest acting talents in the country. But most of them struggle to make it to the finishing line.
Bollywood is a blessing for the audience but it is no less than a curse for budding regional movies. It continues to cast its long shadow over Marathi cinema and as a result, the Marathi regional industry can’t help but get “overly influenced” by Bollywood which results in losing originality. As a result, Marathi films are slowly being forced to match up to their Hindi competitors in terms of genres and style — leading to a lot of them looking and feeling like Bollywood films. This trend is worrisome and marks a dark time for Marathi filmmaking.
It’s about time we understand what our audience wants is not a copy of ‘Bollywood’. It wants to experience its roots and explore its regional diversity. It wants to relate to the content and feel the nostalgia, infused within the culture.
What do you think about the current regional cinema trends? Tell us your opinion regarding the same in the comment section below.
The Red Bulb Studios 