Mumbai, Mar 16: Actor Riteish Deshmukh on Friday spoke about the origins of Indian cinema and the difficulties faced by the Marathi film industry during the 'Vision India: Creative Economy Summit'.
Addressing the event, Riteish recalled the “birth” of the film industry in Maharashtra, crediting legendary filmmaker Dadasaheb Phalke for starting the journey of Indian cinema in Mumbai. He noted that while Hindi films gradually grew in scale and popularity, Marathi films began “shrinking” over time.
“The birth of the film industry happened here in Maharashtra, in Mumbai. A Marathi man, Dadasaheb Phalke, started this journey. When Hindi films began growing bigger, Marathi content started shrinking,” he said.
Riteish highlighted that other states prioritise films in their local languages, citing Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala as examples, where regional content comes first and Hindi second. In Maharashtra, however, Hindi often became the preferred choice, pushing Marathi cinema to the second position and reducing its space in the market.
He emphasised that despite Maharashtra having a large Marathi-speaking population—estimated between 9.5 and 11 crore—insufficient films are being made for them. “Despite this large population, we are not making enough content for them. That is a problem,” Riteish said.
The actor also discussed the economics of Marathi films, noting that most are produced on smaller budgets ranging from Rs 3 to 7 crore. This limits the scale and spectacle of these films compared to big-budget Hindi or South Indian productions. “When a film has a smaller budget, you have only so much to work with. The larger the scale, the more thrilling the experience. When faced with a choice between a Rs 7 crore Marathi film and a Rs 100 crore Hindi or South Indian film, the audience naturally gravitates to the bigger experience,” he explained.
Riteish concluded that these budgetary limitations, coupled with audience preferences, have caused Marathi cinema to struggle for attention and growth despite its rich legacy.
