“Marathi cinema needs to become star-driven,” says Riteish Deshmukh at PIFF

By Jyothi Venkatesh

Marathi cinema must become star driven, and the hero, heroine, even the director and others, must be seen as the stars that they are, only then will the films do big business, said actor-director Ritesh Deshmukh.

On the evening of 21st January 2024, the 22nd Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) hosted a panel discussion at the PVR, Pavilion Mall with Riteish Vilasrao Deshmukh, actor and filmmaker; Sanjay Krushnaji Patil, writer;Nikhil Mahajan, film director, Varun Narvekar, film actor cum director;Mangesh Desai. This interaction was hosted by the veteran theatre and film director Dr. Jabbar Patel. The subject for this discussion was “In Search of New Marathi Cinema.” The discussion was held in the presence of renowned personalities like Mr. Abhijit Gholap, producer.

The interaction was opened by Mr. Deshmukh talking about his love for cinema where he said, “every Indian has two things in their blood – cricket and cinema… I have always loved cinema since childhood. I started acting as a way to explore my inner self. And as they say, we might forget our passion, but destiny always has a way to bring us back to it.”

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Mr. Mahajan highlighted how cinema is the mother of all artforms – an artform where all arts come together. This was followed by Mr. Desai recounting how he got into cinema, “I did theatre and realised that I had something that could hold people’s attention. I realised that it was something I truly loved doing.”

Following this, Mangesh Desai also went on to explain elaborately about how a film is produced, the management of resources and funds, and how cinema works from a producer’s perspective. This was further elucidated by him when he shed light on his experience as a producer and how the market has changed, “You might feel that some films are going to work, but they don’t. You might feel like the audience is waiting for you. But they’re not. The market keeps moving and you need to move with it…Cinema is not independent of commerce. It has both – art and commerce. Both need to be taken into consideration while making films.”

Riteish followed this by highlighting how it takes immense courage for Marathi filmmakers to experiment with their movies. He said, “Making marathi movies is difficult, you gotta be brave for it. Nikhil (Mr. Nikhil Mahajan) is brave for Godavari, and that’s what brought him glory.”

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When asked about the future of Marathi films, Mahajan spoke about how there is a need for marathi filmmakers to aim for commercial success along with focusing on the creation of art. He shared his vision for the Marathi film industry, aiming to produce movies that could achieve commercial blockbuster status similar to regional films such as KGF (2018) and Kantara (2022). Mr Narvekar highlighted how marathi filmmakers should focus on stories that are meant to be watched on the big screen. That, in his opinion, will lead to commercial success.

Mr Desai emphasised on this by saying, “Just like filmmakers need to be honest while producing a film, the audiences also need to honestly come and watch movies in cinema halls. Marathi is not a star-driven industry. Our star is the story…Makers need to support each other. And the audience needs to support the makers. It needs to be done consciously. Regional cinema needs to be nurtured.”

The interaction was concluded by Mr. Jabbar Patel as he laid emphasis on the impeccable literature of the Marathi language. He urged filmmakers to seek inspiration in this boundless trove of literary treasure and art.