Marathi cinema is going through a difficult phase and Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh is planning to give it the much-needed boost by launching a production house that will primarily focus on films in his mother tongue.
"My production company would be called Mumbai Film Company, which would mainly produce Marathi films along with Hindi ones. My debut production would be a Marathi film," Riteish, who hails from Latur, said in an interview.
"I am thinking that I would act in the Marathi film I produce. I am too busy this year so I have kept it for next year," added the 32-year-old.
He says in other states, people prefer watching movies in their own language.
"In Andhra Pradesh, the first choice is Telugu, in Tamil Nadu it is Tamil movies, in Kerala it is Malayalam, in Karnataka it is Kannada, but in Maharashtra it is Hindi.
"When you have a Rs.100-crore budget and a superstar, it's a grander experience and you tend to watch it, which is fair enough. In that situation, the survival of a Marathi film becomes really tough," said Riteish.
He is of the opinion that multiplexes should keep two prime-time shows for Marathi films.
"Marathi is the culture of the land. I think every land has its culture and it should be retained. To give importance to that, I strongly believe multiplexes throughout Maharashtra should at least have two prime-time shows for Marathi films so that people of that area can go and watch them," said Riteish.
The actor started his career with Hindi film Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003 and has featured in hits like Masti (2004), Bluffmaster (2005), Malamaal Weekly (2006), Heyy Babyy and Housefull (2010), but he always wanted to act in a Marathi film.
"I am looking forward to doing a Marathi film and that is what I am really excited about. There are offers coming in, let's see which to pick.
"I am not doing Marathi film for career options. It's something that I wanted to do. It's not that I am doing two-three Marathi films a year. I might do one film in two years or one film in my whole career, but I will do it because I know the language," said the actor.
"Marathi, I think, language-wise is much more potent than Hindi. The stories are always great and it's more credible," he added.
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