Despite 2016 having seen the first Marathi movie to have grossed Rs.100 crore, the year has hardly had 12 major releases. The reason, as stated by a renowned director who spoke on the condition of anonymity, concerns the monopolisation of distribution space by a few giant companies. This has closed avenues for many small agencies who want to buy and sell films, he says.That said, we cannot deny that the films that released dared to punch above the industry’s collective weight, travelling not just to film festivals but also to theatres in non-Marathi-speaking States.

Natsamrat

Released on the very first day of the year, this Nana Patekar-starrer was about an ageing stage actor not able to settle peaceably into his post-retirement self. Despite the movie being high on Nana’s attention-seeking histrionics, its theme of existential angst of an accomplished actor does move the movie-loving audience. Having had a rousing opening, the movie grossed nearly Rs. 50 crore, briefly occupying the spot of top Marathi grosser.  

Sairat

Was it a Laila-Majnu/Romeo-Juliet tale where class discrepancies and family rivalries are replaced by supposedly irreconcilable caste realities? Or was it social commentary, from the point of view of a poet-critic who has suffered discrimination in real life, about the high cost placed by the Indian society on daring to love or marry outside one’s caste? It looked like the first, with a smattering of the second thrown in.

‘Sairat’ was, unlike Nagraj Manjule’s much-more personal ‘Fandry’, as much about the gloss factor as about the caste dynamics packed into art form. Content met not just style and sophistication but also creative packaging. The film’s soaring ambition to be an epic, a blockbuster, eclipsed its desire to deal in an issue as significant as caste. Nonetheless, by showing us nuances not just outside but also within the inter-caste romance — for instance, the gender equation — the film took one small step forward in exploring a regressive orthodoxy that pervades every aspect of social life. More so in rural India, where the film found a wide audience. However, at an intellectual level, concerning the battle of ideas, the film failed to reach the heights touched by a similarly-themed ‘Mukta’, which came nearly two decades ago.

Ekk Albela

A labour of love on  an unsung hero  of Indian cinema, Bhagwan Dada. A dancing star dismissed as a one-film wonder due to the success of  Albela  and the failure of his subsequent films, Bhagwan Abhaji Palav was an innovator much before the 1951 comedy released. He particularly specialised in low-budget action films in the previous decade. This biopic charts his  journey leading to ‘Albela’, when his career peaked before nosediving. Mangesh Desai brings Bhagwan Dada’s charm, especially his slow, effortless, dancing to screen; while Vidya Balan, playing Geeta Bali, makes a brief appearance in her first Marathi film. Having released on June 24, the film did a decent business for 2-3 weeks despite facing distribution issues, before being eclipsed by ‘Sultan’.

Half Ticket

01dfr Half Ticket1

A delightful remake of Tamil sleeper hit ‘Kaaka Muttai’, the film tries to recreate the subaltern comedy of the original, looking at urban issues through the eyes of two innocuous children. The Maximum City, where the majority of the population lives in slums - a factor that has led to a disturbing normalisation of urban poverty there — provided a more natural setting for Manikandan’s script. What worked against the movie the most was perhaps its release date, June 22. Competing with a behemoth like ‘Kabali’ for audience’s attention in Mumbai —which has a considerable section of Tamil population — made it almost certain that its business would be affected.

Ventilator

Having Priyanka Chopra as the producer and Rajesh Mapuskar — of ‘Ferrari Ki Sawaari’ fame — as the director was enough to make at least a section of non-Marathi-speaking audiences take notice. The storyline — of a respected patriarch going into a coma ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi and his family deliberating on how to keep him alive so that their own festivities are not ruined — does hark back to Satyajit Ray’s ‘Shakha Proshakha’. However, presented as a satire rather than chamber drama, the film ticked the right boxes in becoming a box office success, reportedly making Rs. 25 crore.

Punjabi films that made news:

With Hindi cinema discovering the reigning superstar of Punjabi cinema, Diljit Dosanjh this year, the Punjabi industry came into the limelight as much for content as for its music. Having had at least 12 big releases, many of them made at small budgets of Rs.2-3 crore, the industry had a promising year. These were some of the films that gather attention even outside the main market of Punjabi-speaking audiences:

Ambarsariya

A secret agent doubling up as an insurance advisor out to save the State’s Home Minister. The storyline felt like the old-school Hollywood detective thriller, with Dosanjh’s friendly sense of humour thrown in. Grossing more than Rs.20 crore, the film was the first major hit of the year.

Sardarji 2

The second film of the series after last year’s superhit film ‘Sardarji’, about a ghost-hunter in a Punjabi village, summoned to Britain to save a marriage being jeopardised by a lady ghost. Here the lead, a farmer, is out to repay the debt of his  pind  (village). Packaged as a family drama, the film tries too hard to magnify the tropes of the first part, reminding of the exaggerations in films like  ‘ Phir Hera Pheri’, the sequel to ‘Hera Pheri’. The film made around Rs. 20 crore, way below the Rs.50 crore revenue grossed by the first version. Having the release date a week after ‘Udta Punjab’ added to its appeal, Diljit having acquired a new fan-base among Hindi-speaking audiences.

Chauthi Koot (The Fourth Direction)

Gurvinder Singh’s second film after the National Award-winning ‘Anhey Ghore Da Daan’ (Alms for a Blind Horse). Just like his first venture, this has its roots in Punjabi literature, meshing two short stories to show the helplessness of villagers in Punjab in the post-Operation Bluestar period of the 80s.

Ardaas

Directed by Gippy Grewal — the star lead of films like ‘Jatt James Bond’ and ‘Mirziya’ — this one deals with a theme that resonates with Punjabi audiences, about ordinary village folk finding succour in spirituality. Among the lead actors here is Ammy Virk, whose performance as the middle class simpleton in ‘Bambukat’was also appreciated.

Chaar Sahibzaade - Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur

The Harry Baweja-directed film’s  prequel , about the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, and the sacrifices made by his four sons to save the honour of the Khalsa Panth, made Rs. 70 crore and remains the biggest blockbuster produced by the industry. The second part narrates the battles fought by Banda Singh, an ascetic who comes under the influence of the guru and turns into a warrior. He fights for the pride of the pant and also avenges the death of the guru’s sons by killing Wazir Khan, the Mughal Governor of Sirhind. Having had a Diwali release, the film’s performance was decent — it grossed around Rs.20 crore. However, it failed to match the near-iconic status of its prequel.