M-Town's ready to scare

The first 3D Marathi movie, Aai Mala Maru Nako, which released earlier this year, sank without a trace because of its low budget. But now M-Town is all set to make a big 3D splash with a sequel to Mahesh Kothare's Zapatlela (1993). The sequel of this horror film will be the first M-Town flick to be entirely shot with a 3D camera. Rumours of a sequel had been doing the rounds for a while now. 'The day I released the film, I knew that I would be making a sequel to it. But I also knew that it had to be better than what I had already done,' says Mahesh. The director says that he had thought about a 3D sequel much before the digital technology had entered M-Town. 'But I knew that it would require a huge financial back-up,' he adds. Zapatlela 2 will have upgraded technology and an international technician working on it. 'The other Marathi film released in 3D (Aai Mala') was shot with 2D cameras and then converted into a 3D film. But this is the first time that we will shoot entirely with a 3D camera,' informs Mahesh. The team has roped in Spanish technician Enrique Criado, who is looking after the 3D stereography and special effects for the film. M-Town is going all out to experiment with films, even with restricted budgets. And, the actors too are keen to be a part of different projects. This film will have two M-Town hotties ' Sonalee and Saie Tamhankar in prominent roles. Actor Adinath Kothare has also been roped in to star opposite Sonalee. The sequel will also see Makarand Anaspure in the shoes of the ventriloquist who has dolls named Gabbar Singh, Mogambo and the scary Tatya Vinchu that gets possessed. Lately, M-Town has been keenly exploring the horror genre and the special effects in these films are vying to be in the same category as B-Town films. So with this star cast and technology, is Mahesh trying to go the B-Town way? 'Bollywood is churning out films like Raaz 3 which are well made in 3D. The expectation from our audience will now be on par with Bollywood,' explains Mahesh, who has also roped in an international distributor.