Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's cine wing fears 'M S Dhoni - The Untold Story' dubbed in Marathi may set unfair competition for regional films
Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; August 22, 2016)

The ambitious plan to release 'M S Dhoni - The Untold Story' in Marathi has run into a tricky political speed-breaker. Chitrapat Karmachari Sena (CKS), the film affairs wing of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, has taken exception to the cricketer's biopic being dubbed in Marathi, saying it will lead to 'unfair' competition for regional films.

As reported 'Dhoni talks in Marathi', director Neeraj Pandey had said that the Indian cricket captain being "one of India's favourite sons and by far, the most successful Indian cricket captain" was reason enough for them to release his biopic in multiple languages.

Amey Khopkar, chief of CKS, says, "We have no objection to the film as such. In fact, I am planning to watch it. The problem, however, lies with the dubbed version. If one producer releases his film in Marathi, it will pave the way for the others too. That is a scary scenario since regional filmmakers already face a lot of problems in getting screens at multiplexes. Bharatmata cinema, a single screen theatre in Lalbaug, plays only Marathi films. If they too start screening dubbed films, where will our producers and directors go?"

The biopic featuring Sushant Singh Rajput in the lead is set to release towards September-end. The makers unveiled the Marathi trailer last week. Khopkar says he received numerous calls from actors, directors and producers from the regional film industry, expressing concern over the impending competition.

"That was when we decided to write to the producers of Dhoni with a request not to dub the film since it will eat into the business of local films. We hope to hear from them today. If they don't respond, we will decide our next course of action," he adds.

Eyeing multiplex primetime slot?

Last year, the state government decided to make it mandatory for multiplexes to show at least one Marathi film during prime time hours and consider any one of the three shows — 12 to 3 pm, 3 to 6 pm and 6 to 9 pm. Will the makers of Dhoni biopic aim at the prime time slot for the Marathi dubbed version? An insider says, "It’s too early to talk about distribution and show timings."