Marathi Cinemas find global spotlights at festivals

In 1913, India's first feature film, Raja Harishchandra, was produced in Marathi. However, over the past few decades, Marathi Cinemas have lost its way and are covered up by Bollywood’s Hindi films. But can the revival be seen?

The highly acclaimed Marathi drama Starr (a match) begins with a stunning role reversal: instead of the bride, instead, the forward-looking groom endured the dehumanizing ritual of the censored marriage review.

But we will soon learn that this is the film's protagonist, Savita, who wakes up from an impossible dream – her real life, just like many Indian women are trapped in the tradition of arranging marriages, which is the exact opposite.

Sthal offers an unparalleled view of the grim marriages arranged in India, often romanticizing songs and dances on the screen. It is also part of the Marathi film wave that has received global acclaim this year.

Sabar Bonda, a semi-personal relationship between two men, became the history of the first marathon film screened by Sundance and won a Grand Jury Award.

Meenakshi Shedde, senior program consultant for South Asian films at the Toronto International Film Festival, called it “bold, sophisticated country gay romance” and the “historicity” of its bold and tender storytelling.

Once the pioneer of Indian films, Marathi films have long been hurt by the dominant influence of Bollywood in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country. But over the past decade, they have been quietly marking the global mark and illuminating the international festival with a variety of famous titles.

Nagraj Manjule's romantic love Sairat was received by Berlinale in 2016. A few years later, Chaitanya Tamhane's The Acdistiph won the Best Screenplay in Venice – Oscar winner Afonso Cuaron won the boarding of the executive producer.

Since then, at least a dozen independent and experimental Marathi films have found a seat at the global festivals, dealing with impressive themes.

The followers of Harshad Nalawade were selected as the Rotterdam Film Festival and released in limited releases at the Theatre Festival, delving into the radicalization of Indian youth and exploring the life of a compassionate town troll.

The second chance, made her black and white debut by Subhadra Mahajan, a woman’s post-creation journey takes her to the Himalayas. It premiered in Busan and was released in the Indian Theatre in June this year.

Marathi Cinema has strong roots in Marathi literature and drama, and he has been making powerful films, Shedde said.

Unlike Bollywood’s exaggerated commercial appeal, she added that many independent films offer “quiet space.”

The aesthetics of this cinema reflects the often marginal background of its manufacturers – many of which are self-taught and traditional power worlds.

Take Sabar Bonda director Rohan Kanawade as an example – he grew up in a slum in Mumbai but dared to dream of making a movie.

“This brings a wealth of, uneducated, primitive and life-long experience to the cinema. They are very different from smooth universal films that often come from international script labs and international co-produced.”

However, unlike the stable content of cinemas in other regions (such as Malayalam films in Kerala), Marathi films are still in the outbreak.

Sthal's producer Shefali Bhushan said that this is partly because there is no institutional support, and he worked with three other partners to fund the film.

She added that large studios won’t get back the Marathi project without “obvious commercial appeal”, meaning support for experimental art sounds is very lacking.

Unlike Kerala, Maharashtra also has little state support for regional cinemas and lacks a strong film culture.

Marathi films are mainly centered around the cities of Mumbai and Pune, Shedde said, “feeling the fullness of Bollywood, suffocating weight that cinemas in other regions do not have.”

Furthermore, Maharashtra has no Kerala's highly “Cine-Literate audience”, Ligentary Filmmanter discusses (the legendary filmmaker Sergei) Eisenstein and its legacy, which allows these filmmakers to recoup their small independent films and make money.

Ashok Rane, an experienced film critic, said the producers should also be partially blamed, and his mission is to sell films in the region over the past decade.

Rane told the BBC they did little to explore the theme of “speaking common languages” and would attract global audiences.

The industry's growth is also plagued by a “lack of positive ambitions” and the lack of a film distribution system means that India has been a “cemetery for good cinemas” for decades, Shedde said.

However, she believes that international recognition at Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals will help solve this problem – especially for independent filmmakers who want to expand into non-traditional markets.

Bhushan agrees – The opportunity to screen her films at the Cannes Film Festival promoted by the Maharashtra government has opened new doors.

The festivals, she said, are “learning how to sell to different territories, bringing new projects into new ones that are co-produced with people (from Glable).

“The whole world is waiting for eavesdropping.”

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