Young film-makers in Pune take Prabhat’s legacy ahead

Be it producing the first silent movie of the country, Raja Harishchandra or making national award winning contemporaries like Shwaas, Jogwa and Mee Sindhutai Sapkal, Marathi cinema has come a long way.

The industry, which started with Prabhat Talkies in Pune, went to Kolhapur and then to Mumbai. It is now again thriving on creative individuals who belong to Pune. Right from direction to writing, music and acting, Pune today has a lot more to offer when it comes to film-making. Not only talent is required but improvising with time is equally important.

Director Rajiv Patil, who has many critically-acclaimed films under his belt, including national award winning Jogwa, backs the statement. “When I started my film career by assisting directors like Chandrakant Kulkarni and Amol Palekar in 2003, there was a small audience for Marathi cinema. The prime reason for it was the production quality of our films, which was very low. I wanted to make films, which were technically perfect along with improved style of storytelling,” explained Patil.
The Marathi film industry, which has always been fortunate to have content-oriented films, lacked commercial look, according to Patil.

Story, dialogue and screenplay writer Sanjay Pawar, who has co-written films like Mee Sindhutai Sapkal, and has worked in films like Saatchya Aat Gharat and Dombivli Fast, also felt that Marathi directors offer quality cinema. “When I joined the industry in 1987, it was a different scene all together. Films used to be made with a budget of Rs25 lakh. Today, the budget goes in crores. But when it comes to content of the films, I feel it has always been the USP of Marathi cinema.”

Young director Amit Abhayankar, whose film Jana Gana Mana will be released online, felt that Marathi films will now get a larger audience who will get a chance to witness creativity and talent.

Jana Gana Mana, is all set to release through the
Internet and cellphones, which will be the first-of-its kind release for a Marathi film. “Since Internet has become a popular medium today, I thought of releasing the moive online,” he said. The movie will be released on www.youtube.com and www.mundu.tv.

The change indeed will be a landmark achievement in the history of Marathi cinema, but more than that, Abhayankar feels it will give Marathi cinema a chance to compete at the world-level.