Avijit Ghosh & Bella Jaisinghani | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; August 18, 2020)

New Delhi/Mumbai: Director Nishikant Kamat, best known as the maker of commended and compelling films such as Dombivli Fast, Mumbai Meri Jaan and Drishyam, breathed his last at a Hyderabad hospital on Monday. He was 50.

Kamat was admitted on July 31. “He was suffering from liver cirrhosis for the past two years ...since yesterday, he developed respiratory failure... eventually leading to multi-organ failure-…at 16:24 hrs he succumbed to his illness,” a press release issued by AIG hospital, Hyderabad, said.

Much earlier in the afternoon, several film personalities had erroneously tweeted the news of his passing away.

As a director, Kamat displayed a sureness of craft, an ability to draw the best out of actors and a felicity with psychological thrillers. He was born in Mumbai, knew its mind and crafted two fascinating portraits of the city, warts and all.

He commanded attention with his edgy award-winning debut venture, Dombivali Fast (2005), chronicling a citizen’s descent to disturbia in a world where the honest and the meek are mocked at, rather than valued and feted. The movie, inspired by Joel Schumacher’s Falling Down, won the national award for best feature film in Marathi, and penciled Kamat as a director to watch out for.

He lived up to the challenge in his debut Hindi feature, Mumbai Meri Jaan (2008), a bittersweet ode to the city that wrapped its arms around the 2006 train blast survivors, their loss and their method of coping. Mumbai Meri Jaan received the Filmfare Critics Award for best movie.

Kamat changed tack thereafter. Force (2011) was a slick action yarn. The director, who also acted in several movies such as Rocky Handsome (2016), also helmed Irrfan Khan’s tense Madaari (2018). In between, he directed Drishyam (2015), a cat and mouse thriller, remade from a Malayalam film of the same name. The movie was a masterclass in mindgames; its ingenious twists and unusual morality choices were loved by the audience, making it a cash counter success.

Actor Riteish Deshmukh who starred in his Marathi film Lai Bhaari tweeted: “I will miss you my friend Nishikant Kamat. Rest in peace.”

Actor Ajay Devgn, who featured in Drishyam, took to Twitter too to post: “My equation with Nishikant was not just about Drishyam, a film which he directed with Tabu and me. It was an association that I cherished. He was bright; ever-smiling. He has gone too soon. RIP Nishikant.”

John Abraham had worked with Kamat in Force and Rocky Handsome. He posted photos with his director and wrote, “Will not get over this.... Rest In Peace.”

Film director Ashutosh Gowarikar posted: “You’ve gone too soon, Nishikant! There were still so many stories that needed to be told! You will be remembered through your creations! Especially #MumbaiMeriJaan which is sheer brilliance! Your CINEMA will be missed! Farewell.”

Looks like the Hindi film industry needs to learn a few lessons from Marathi movies' business model — superior content, low budgets and zero reliance on stars. After all, the regional industry has registered 200 per cent profits last year
Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; April 5, 2015)

The Marathi film industry seems to have everything going for itself. The number of releases has shot up over the last three years and so have the profits — all this without "superstars" or big budgets.

At the recently concluded annual session of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), a panel of producer and studio representatives stated that the regional industry had registered nearly 200 per cent profits in the previous year. The much bigger Hindi filmdom, which rides on claims of crores of rupees, the gain was a meagre 0.6 per cent.

Trade expert Komal Nahta says the Marathi filmdom is pegged to be a Rs 150 crore industry. "So, if we consider that they have made 200 per cent profits, that makes it approximately Rs 300 crore. However, I don't agree with such numbers as some films click with the audience and do well at the box office while others don't."

Last year, Ravi Jadhav (top, on left)'s 'Timepass' (pictured on top) raked in a record-breaking Rs 5 crore in its opening weekend. The film was made on a budget of Rs 1.75 crore and went on to earn Rs 30 crore, says the filmmaker, adding: "Planning is something that helps producers. We generally have a schedule of 30-35 days to complete a film. Marathi actors come from theatre, so they are disciplined and allot proper dates. Therefore, the budget of the film hardly goes beyond Rs 2 crore. The film narratives are simple and the shoot happens at real locations, which is why we don't have to spend too much money on the sets."



At the FICCI session, the unanimous view on Bollywood's dismal performance was that most filmmakers depend heavily on the "star system" — the three Khans, Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir — as it is a safe bet. Producers also have to bear the compensation of an actor's staff and spend heavily on the movie promotions, which have become an ego battle. Eventually, a project tends to go over budget.

"I don't know the methods of calculating profit. But I think an important factor working in favour of Marathi movies is how you control the budget and spend on publicity," says Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh, who turned producer for Marathi films with the superhit comedy drama 'Balak Palak' (pic, above) (2013). "In Hindi cinema, there is more competition and producers have to spend a lot of money on marketing, so recovering it all becomes difficult. Someone needs to break this strategy," he adds.



Sandeep Kulkarni, who featured in Nishikant Kamat's critically acclaimed film 'Dombivali Fast' (2005), feels the audience has been able to connect with recent Marathi films due to good content and music. "Films like 'Lai Bhaari' had a novelty factor which drew crowds to the theatres. It was also marketed well. In case of Hindi films last year, only 'Queen' could make profits as it was made on a small budget film and had a good story," says the actor, who will produce the sequel to 'Dombivali Fast'.

Director-producer Paresh Mokashi echoes his views, saying that Marathi culture has always supported good art, and the present-day filmmakers are in sync with the cultural milieu and aspirations of the audience. "Marathi films have never been a star-studded affair; people have always liked the way a story has been presented. So, films belonging to different genres like 'Lai Bhaari', 'Duniyadari', 'Elizabeth Ekadashi' and 'Fandry' have worked well," says the National Award winning filmmaker.

In the last few years, the regional film industry has handed out an assorted platter of coming-of-age films, social dramas, biopics as well as out-and-out masala movies for the masses, which have been a delight for the audience. And the winners, undoubtedly, have been the films with superior content.



Samruddhi Porey, who recently made a biopic on social activist Dr Prakash Amte featuring Nana Patekar and Sonali Kulkarni, says, "We have to face a lot of competition from Hindi and English films, but we are doing well because of quality and not quantity. Even though my film had a social message, it worked well commercially due to promotions. The producers these days are aware about where and how to promote their films and how much money they must spend. We did not go overboard with the promotions but the word-of-mouth buzz helped. The fact that we get subsidy from the government helps. The release date strategy and the absence of a star system also add to the profits."

Sources said the government subsidy for regional filmmakers is Rs 30-40 lakh.

BO toppers

Rs 40 crore
Total collection of 'Lai Bhaari' (pictured below); budget: Rs 8 crore

Rs 30 crore
Total collection of 'Timepass'; budget: Rs 1.75 crore

Rs 12 crore
Total collection of 'Dr Prakash Amte'; budget: Rs 2.5 crore

Rs 7 crore
Total collection of 'Elizabeth Ekadashi'; budget: Rs 1.5 crore