Band width

“The Marathi film industry that was earlier made popular by talented actors such as Ashok Saraf and Lakshmikant Berde is no longer the same. Be it the writers,directors,musicians such as Ajay Atul or Salil Kulkarni or the actors- the Marathi film industry today is as glamourous as Tollywood. Another aspect is that these actors who are seen through films are also visible through serials and that is what makes people feel that they are one amongst them. What has triggered the popularity of these personalities on the web is the fact that more and more people want to reach out to them and interact with them,” says Vinod Satav of marathimanoranjan.com,a website that facilitates interaction between Marathi stars and their fans via blogging.

The popularity of Marathi stars is visible through the numbers associated with marathimanoranjan.com that boasts of 2500 registered members,90,000 clicks in 2 months and addition of nine new stars. After her performance on the song Apsara Aali in the recent film Natarang,actress Sonali Kulkarni has become synonymous with the name Apsara. One of the most popular faces on the Marathi webworld,Sonali’s Facebook account recently ran into a full limit with 5000 fans on her friends’ list. Commenting on the newly acquired stardom,the actress says,“The striking fact of the film industry today is the glamour that actresses have got. Prior to this,only Alka Kubal would boast of glamour such as this. The reason behind the popularity is due to the kind of publicity that Marathi films have been receiving. Further,even Marathi films are indulging into promotional activities like Hindi films.”

While popularity post getting a break is one aspect,another glamourised area on the lines of Bollywood is the struggling period. And contrary to the legendary Hindi actors who spent their struggling period on footpaths in front of the Oberoy or Taj or in small chawls in Parla,Marathi strugglers are seen at the S P College katta,tea stalls outside Balgandharva Rang Mandir and occasionally at the Cafe Coffee Day’s in the city. Amongst a plethora of websites that ‘tap’ these strugglers is goldnfuturestars.com,which is all set for a release within 15 days. Commenting on the potential of the talent pool,Vijay Panchal,founder,says,“The state has a huge talent pool but they do not know the entry point to the industry. We are aiming for a website that will help the strugglers upload their portfolios,piece to camera (PtoCs) and so on. We will be providing a districtwise and alphabetical classification to make it easy for the users.”

Citing the reason behind the mushrooming number of strugglers,Satav adds,“Unlike Hindi films,Marathi actors come from places like Sadashiv Peth,Kothrud,Katraj areas and have been students of S P College,Fergusson College and so on. The whole thing makes everyone feel that even he/ she can be actors. We are soon planning to launch ground shows and interactions with actors who can guide such wannabe actors with the realities of the industry.”

Ratings of Marathi serials on a popular website
Agnihotra 33%
SaReGaMaPa 9%
Antarpat 3%
Comedy Expresss 11%
Eka Peksha Ek 1%
Maharashtracha Superstar 2%
Phu Bai Phu 14%
Raja Shiv Chhatrapati 17%
Hasa Chakatphu 2%
Avghachi Ha Sansaar 3%

Most popular faces on the web
. Sonali Kulkarni of Apsara fame
. Siddharth Chandekar of Agnihotra fame
. Salil Kulkarni,composer
. Prasad Oak,actor