Journalism of Courage
In 2007,during the shooting of the Marathi film ‘Mukkam Post London’,director Kedar Shinde took the movie team to several famous tourist spots in London such as the Palace of Westminster,Big Ben and London Eye. At each spot,the sight of actor Bharat Jadhav in a typical Maharashtrian pyjama,a three-buttoned shirt,coat,muffler and a Gandhi topi stopped several locals and tourists in their tracks and they rushed to have a picture clicked with the actor. The funny thing is,they didnt know who we were because they dont watch Marathi movies. Just the sight of his costume was a novelty for them, recalls Shinde. ‘Mukkam Post London’ was amongst the first few Marathi movies to include a foreign location within the movies plot.
While Hindi movies with their mega budgets have been shooting abroad for several years,Marathi movies with tighter budgets,were traditionally shot within Maharashtra. Now however,it is not a rare sight to spot a Marathi film crew at exotic foreign locales such as Bangkok,Malaysia,Canada,Nepal and UK. Bharat Jadhav-starrer Baburao La Pakda,that was released in July this year,was shot mostly in Bangkok with other scenes being shot in Maharashtra. ‘Saad’,released on October 5,was shot partly in Malaysia and in Maharashtra. The films producer and director,Hemant Dabhade says funds are a major concern when shooting abroad. The story in ‘Saad’ begins in Malaysia and so it made sense for us to go shoot there. If it hadnt been part of the story,I wouldnt have gone there as it raises shooting costs by 50 per cent, he says.
According to Ashish Ubale,the director of Baburao La Pakda,over the past few years,budgets have definitely been increasing and that has made it easier for film makers to include international aspects to the plot and shoot abroad. I am glad that Marathi cinema is beginning to compete with Hindi movies even in this respect now, he says.
However,actor Subodh Bhave,who is scheduled to shoot a new untitled film in Malaysia in December,is skeptical of foreign locations becoming a norm for Marathi movies. A Hindi movie costs Rs 40 crores on an average. With a budget of Rs 1 crore,a Marathi movie will only take its shoot abroad if the story demands it, he explains. Foreign locations and scenes,according to him,do not seem to impress the Marathi audience much and do not help in earning more viewers for a film. Under these conditions,I do not think there can be a blind trend of shooting abroad, he adds.
