Corporates get filmy

Marathi cinema is witnessing a new trend these days. In an unusual intersection of varied professions, more and more NRIs and IT professionals are coming forward to produce Marathi films. Not just that, they are also taking active interest in areas like scripts, marketing, post-production and distribution of the films as well.
After having spent over 25 years in the green energy sector and having set up his own nuclear power plant in South India, engineer and NRI Ashok Damre’s creative side finally took over his instincts.And that’s when he decided to enter into the world of Marathi cinema. Having set up his production company, the US citizen is currently producing the film Samhita, directed by veteran directors Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhthankar. “I have always had a close affection towards Indian classical music. In fact, I have been organizing classical shows of veteran vocalists in Brihan Maharashtra Mandal in Chicago. So basically, it’s the love for Marathi culture that motivated me to enter Marathi cinema,” says Damre. His film depicts the era of a sansthan, and has Milind Soman as the lead.
Award winning director Umesh Kulkarni’s next film Deul, is being produced by Abhijeet Gholap, who has had an illustrious career of a software professional in California. When Abhijeet returned to Pune in 2007, he had never thought he would enter the Marathi film industry. “My close friend and actor Ashwini Bhave was responsible for this association. Directed by Umesh, it stars the likes of Nana Patekar, Sonali Kulkarni, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Girish Kulkarni and Naseeruddin Shah, who is acting in a Marathi film for the first time,” says Gholap. An IITian, Gholap brings with him vast experience of working with the corporate world. “I found this to be the right time to explore the production of Marathi films. These days, various unusual topics are being experimented. All they lack is good marketing.” While his banner, has pumped in a whopping five crore for Deul, Gholap’s next project will be a musical.
Another such person is Chandrakant Mane. A mechanical engineer, with his own construction business for over 20 years, what brings a smile on his face is the 12 hours-per-day schedule that he spent editing a film, which he produced sometime back. “During the production of my film, Bandha Premache, I realized that Marathi filmmakers don’t spend much on post production. We had a budget of ` 65 lakh, which got extended to ` 1.25 crores, despite which when it came to editing, there was no one. With no option, I sat down and edited the film myself. After producing the film, now I know that though matured when it comes to receiving Hindi films, the Marathi audience yet has very specific expectations from regional cinema,” he says. Mane also adds that he is waiting for directors with good scripts to approach him.
But production isn’t as easy as it seems. Anwaya Mhaiskar, director of a well-known electronics company, classifies herself as a producer and not a financer as she categorically mentions, “I am not merely financing the project, but taking keen interest in other aspects of filmmaking such as the cast, post production, direction and so on. Thankfully, I have the resources to make a good film, and am not willing to compromise on any of the filmmaking aspects.” Mhaiskar, who is currently working on a black comedy, Tendulkar Out, has to her credit Sukhanta, the first ever film in Marathi film industry to have handled a complex and sensitive topic such as euthanasia which has won over nine awards. But not everyone has had a positive experience. Anil Satpute, who has been the producer for a number of successful Marathi films like Checkmate, Bokya Satbande and Ringa Ringa, has decided to hand over his current project — Shala to another production house. Thanks to these producers with non-film backgrounds, the quality of Marathi films is improving.