Showing posts with label Dr Prakash Baba Amte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr Prakash Baba Amte. Show all posts

During Taxi No 9211, John Abraham would find it difficult to speak 2 lines together-Nana Patekar


Actor is gearing up for a home production that he will direct and act in
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 18, 2015)

Nana Patekar in a Hollywood film? It's a possibility. He admits that he's still not fluent in English and that makes him nervous. But after dubbing for a Kannada film, he's confident he can pull off an English film as well. “It's on Indian politics in the pre-Independence era. The director will be from Hollywood but the actors are all Indian. I haven't signed it yet. Let's see if I get the price I've asked for,“ he says.

The 64-year-old actor wants to do socially relevant films but sighs that they don't work. “I enjoyed the Dr Prakash Baba Amte biopic. I wouldn't be interested in doing a biopic on someone from the underworld. Why will I make him a hero?“ he quips.

Meanwhile, he has almost finished scripting a love story, which he will be directing and acting in. It will be shot in a place with lots of snow. His son, Malhar, will be assisting him, but papa won't launch him because “woh logon pe thopna hota hai“. “If he wants to be an actor, he'll have to make it on his own. He actually wants to be a producer and just make good films,“ he grins.

In 2007, Nana wowed everyone as Uday Shankar Shetty in Anees Bazmee's Welcome, and now returns with the sequel. Ab Tak Chhappan 2, which released earlier this year, flopped even though he liked his role more in the sequel. “The story wasn't presented well but I would never leave a film midway. If anything, I performed with more intensity and passion,“ he says. Will he do Part 3? “Only if I can write and direct it, else I'm not interested,“ he retorts.

However, the actor insists that Welcome Back is funnier. Anil and his characters are better human beings but it's difficult for them to stay clean.“That's the catch,“ he asserts, admitting that during the shoot he'd often get into an argument with Anees over the way the scenes were written. “The writer would take over the director in him and he'd keep writing till the last moment. On the day of the shoot, at around 3 am, his assistant would slip the improvised scenes under the door and we wouldn't have the time to prepare. That's what we'd quarrel about,“ he reminisces with a guffaw.

This is the second time Nana will be sharing screen space with his Taxi No 9211 co-star John Abraham. “Then he was a child. He would find it difficult to speak two lines together. Now John is far more confident and has grown as an actor,“ he says. Nana's also doing a play based on Saumya Joshi's applauded Gujarati drama, 102 Not Out, on which a Hindi film, with the same title, is also being made. It will feature Amitabh Bachchan and Paresh Rawal. “We're doing it in Marathi, it's a nice story,“ he says.

Bollywood suffers losses but Marathi Cinema shows 200% growth

A still from Ravi Jadhav's Timepass
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
Ravi JadhavSonali 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."

A still from Balak Palak

Riteish DeshmukhAt 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

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.

Sonali Kulkarni and Nana Patekar in the biopic on social activist Dr Prakash Amte

Samruddhi Porey
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

Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza in the Mauli Mauli track from the superhit film Lai Bhaari. The song was used used to represent the tableau of Maharashtra at the 66th Republic Day parade