Ekta Kapoor forays into Marathi cinema

Dressed in a black shirt and jeans teamed with her trademark red bindi and diamond bangles adorning her hands,Ekta said that regional cinema has the support of strong scripts. “This is one such script that we are proud to be associated with and hope that the movie will be financially viable for us to make more regional films. Maharashtra is open to different kinds of cinema and I am sure that this film will also be accepted,” she smiled. When asked if she has watched any Marathi film,she confessed that Harishchandrachi Factory is the only movie that she has seen till now.

Jeetendra greeted mediapersons warmly at the packed press conference,which was held at his son Tusshar’s office in Juhu,Mumbai,and said,“Sachin has always been my favourite Marathi hero.” The veteran actor stated that while his company has been making serials in Marathi,Kannada and Telugu and Hindi movies,Ekta was keen to make a Marathi film. “I hope the ‘boss’ takes it up seriously,” he grinned looking at his daughter,to which she replied,“Provided I get good subjects.”

Jeetendra was quite sporting and regaled everyone with his Marathi after mediapersons insisted him to speak in the language. He began with,“Maazhi Marathi aata vedi vaakdi aahe. (Now I do not speak Marathi fluently)” This got him a huge round of applause and he continued speaking for some time in Marathi,while reminiscing about his young days in South Mumbai’s Girgaum area that was noted for its Maharashtrian people and flavour. “I spoke the language so fluently that the late V Shantaram,who was instrumental in making me a Hindi film hero,was shocked to learn that my mother-tongue was Punjabi,a language I did not speak at all,” said the actor,who had made a brief appearance in the Marathi film Mosambi Narangi years back.

Later,Kiran,who completed Taryanche Bait in 28 days at Anzarle village near Dabholi,recalled the incident when he had to seek permission from Mrs Yevle,the sarpanch of the village,to shoot some scenes in the gram panchayat office. “At first,she refused. But later,I even made her do a small part in the film,” he stated.

“Taryanche Bait is an emotional film like my earlier Hindi film A Wesdnesday! All of us get excited by emotional subjects,” said Niraj.

Sachin will be seen in a lead role in a Marathi film after two years. Though he had a small role in Lalbaug Parel that released last year,he was last seen in a full-fledged role in Mee Shivajiraje Bhosle Boltoy. The actor said he was happy with the way Taryanche Bait has turned out. “I got 40 offers after Mee Shivajiraje … but I still believe in good cinema and get attracted towards brilliant scripts. And the fact that I accepted this film says it all,” he said.

Taryanche Bait has many firsts,said Kiran. While Ekta,Niraj and Shital make their debut in Marathi cinema with this film,famous writer-producer-director Ratnakar Matkari has penned the lyrics for songs composed by filmmaker and composer Nandu Ghanekar for the first time. It also marks the debut of child artistes Asmita Joglekar and Ishaan Tambe.

Generally,the promotions of Marathi films are quite low-key. But Gauri Sathe of Balaji Alt said,“Since we are in the business of Hindi films, we shall use the same technique for this Marathi movie,as we do not believe in restricting it to any language. Eventually it is the quality of films that matters.” She elaborated that they are planning a campaign with an environmental NGO from Pune to create awareness about the importance of education. There are also plans to associate with some brands like a cycle that is an important prop in the film. There will also be a kid’s activity programme where discussions will be held on topics like taking up careers at an early age.

The film has already won two awards — Best Actor and Best Screenplay — at the recently-concluded Pune International Film Festival.