After emerging a big hit at the Marathi box office, Timepass returns with a sequel, Time Pass 2. Director Ravi Jadhav's story of a rugged hero falling in love with a talented singer, sees the lead pair of the original film - Prathamesh Parab and Ketaki Mategaonkar - grow into Priyadarshan Jadhav and Priya Bapat in the sequel. This one too promises to be a complete entertainment package and there's a terrific buzz building around it as it readies for a release on May 1. Its trailer posted on the official social networking profile page has registered a big number of hits already.

Besides Time Pass, Lai Bhaari (produced by Riteish Deshmukh) and backed by Essel Vision, also went on to become one of the biggest hits in Marathi cinema.

Regional cinema has witnessed increasing growth over the last few years. What's more, Marathi films have been giving stiff competition to Bollywood though very often the release has been almost simultaneous - like Duniyadari alongside Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Time Pass alongside Dhoom 3. Additionally, Lai Bhaari also saw Marathi cinema foray into non-Maharashtrian territories like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Baroda, Indore etc, making it the widest release spanning 425 screens.

Nittin Keni of Essel Vision is upbeat about Time Pass 2 as he says, “As far as the Maharashtra market is concerned, I envisage a win-win situation for the best of Hindi and Marathi films released simultaneously .“ His optimism is not misplaced. More so, as his company's earlier venture, Elizabeth Ekadashi too had become a big hit, following a distinctive promotional campaign on social media, besides getting laurels and awards on the film festival circuit.

Their other film, Killa which won the prestigious Crystal Bear at Venice Film Festival 2014 is already being discussed internationally and is scheduled to release soon.