For 11 years, the Goa Marathi Film Festival has been an important earmarked event on the
Goan calendar. Besides the International Film Festival of India, this is
another prestigious film festival that has people from the film fraternity
descending on the small state. However, the output in the growth of Marathi
cinema in Goa has been minimal, with a film coming out after five years or so.
Dynanesh Moghe, a noted filmmaker, is also a part of the
organising committee of the Goa Marathi Film Festival since its inception. This
year, the festival will open with an opening ceremony collaborated with Fakt
Marathi, a Marathi channel from Maharashtra that has a viewership of 3 crores,
making it the second highest vieweed channel in Marathi. They will be
organising Goa Chirtapath Mahotasav Gaurav Sobhana, a major show on Friday with
renowned artistes, felicitating film personalities with awards for their
contribution in Marathi cinema.
Speaking about the Goa Marathi Film Festival, he says, “This is
a regional film festival wherein we also show important Konkani films that have
really made a mark in cinema. Every year, we show at least one Goan film in
Konkani or Marathi. This year, Rajendra Talak’s Marathi version of ‘Miranda
House’ will be screened. We expect people who are into regional films to watch
the films and meet the directors because they also struggle in the same way.
Marathi is an advanced film industry but the struggle remains the same. All
over India, for regional films, the struggle is acute. There is communication
and sharing of ideas that takes place. The people from Goa and Maharashtra
connect to the same emotional appeal and they connect to the films even though
they are in different languages.”
Though the popularity
of the festival has increased, there is still a limitation on delegates as they
have to be accommodated in the theatres reserved for the films. “We have
intentionally kept limited number of delegates because we can’t increase the
number of theatres. We want the festival to be carried out without any
hindrance or problems. The audience is consistant at 1500 people, who watch the
films at the festival. Now, even filmmakers like to come to Goa to showcase
their films because in the monsoons, even their shootings have stopped. It’s
like a gathering for them, which is not possible during their busy schedule in
Mumbai. Film distributors also come here to watch good films because we have 60
per cent new releases. This year, there are 11 new releases and seven films
that were released earlier. These films are invited for the festival,” explains
Dynanesh.
‘Miranda House’,
directed by Rajendra Talak, is the only Goan film that will be screened at the
festival. He has directed Marathi, Konkani and bilingual films that have done
well in Goa and Maharashtra. He throws light on the trend of how these films
are accepted in Goa. “The festival is good for those who are waiting to see
good Marathi cinema. The audience for Konkani cinema is definitely more. I
don’t think my Marathi films have done much business in Goa compared to Mumbai.
My National Award winning Marathi film ‘Antarnad’ was released here but it ran
for around two weeks, while my Konkani film ‘O Maria’ went on to complete its
silver jubilee.
“Marathi films have
more outreach in Maharashtra. Regional cinema has a different audience that
appreciates these films,” Talak says.
‘Miranda House’ is a
bilingual film in Konkani and Marathi. “This is not my first bilingual film in
Goa. Earlier, I released ‘Antarnad’ and ‘Savalee’ in two languages. ‘Antarnad’
got five National Awards and ‘Savalee’ ran for 25 weeks in Pune. It depends on
the subject and whether it will appeal to the Maharashtra audience. I decide
the language according to the theme,” he adds.
Samiksha Desai has
acted in Marathi films and short films like ‘A Rainy Day’ and ‘Prem at First
Sight’. She also works in Marathi plays and is currently acting in an English
Play, ‘Light Out’ directed by Dynanesh Moghe, which will be performed at
Multi-purpose Hall, Directorate of Art and Culture, Patto, Panjim on June 29,
2019 at 6:30pm. “No one takes a risk in making Marathi films because of the
production cost. In Goa, the response to Marathi films is also not that great
and I have seen very less Marathi movies released in theatres here. Marathi
movies made by Goan directors have less audience than Marathi theatre but if it
is a Maharashtra based Marathi film, the theatres will run houseful. When it
comes to my movies, compared to Marathi, there is a larger audience for the
Konkani films. The crowd that I see attending tiatrs is the same crowd I see in
theatres for Konkani movies,” says Samiksha.
She adds, “Marathi cinema in Maharashtra has now reached the level of Bollywood. The concepts they are developing, the storylines, each and every detail is worth appreciating. There are so many Marathi movies that I and my friends have travelled to Belgaum to watch, like ‘Natarang’ and ‘Katyar Kaljat Ghusli’. These movies are released in Goa but they come very late.”