The South v/s Hindi films debate has been prominent in many industry-related conversations of late. However, there’s been no discussion about the impact it has had on smaller, regional industries. On Friday, speaking at an event in Pune, filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar minced no words as he called out the audience for their biased attitude towards Marathi films. While addressing a question about his film’s story and setting, Manjrekar also spoke about how he hoped that the Marathi audience would start coming to theatres to watch films.

“It’s not that good films aren’t made in Marathi. But where are the viewers? You are entitled to an opinion, but to create that opinion, at least watch the film once. The audiences have convinced themselves that Marathi films are not worth watching and that’s extremely sad especially when makers are trying their best to give different experiences to viewers,” he said, adding, “But they will watch films like KGF. I am not downplaying the success of the KGF franchise; the makers did a splendid job of creating a buzz around it and they raked in the money. The Kannada industry was struggling, but today, Kannada films are being released across the country because of the success of KGF. Can’t we do the same with Marathi cinema? That’s really something to think about. Marathi films have good content, but no viewers. And the cycle continues.”

Manjrekar has been vocal about various concerns of the industry. In the past, the lack of promotion of Marathi films was looked at as a primary reason behind the lesser reach. When asked about the same, the filmmaker said, “I don’t think that’s a concern anymore. A decent Marathi film spends close to Rs. 2 crore on film promotions. This includes on-ground events, collaborations, press conferences etc. Despite all this, the box-office returns are abysmal. Until that improves, there’s nothing that can be done.”