Bollywood celebs react to Marathi cinema directive to multiplexes

Bollywood celebrities were divided over the Maharashtra governments plan to make screening of Marathi movies in the states multiplexes mandatory during prime timeWhile the decision left some members of the film fraternity shocked drawing ferocious reactions from many who slammed the governments dictatorship and dadagiri and said that regional movies should be encouraged not forced There were also some who praised the moveRitesh Deshmukh and Rishi KapoorActor Ritesh Deshmukh who has produced Marathi films called the decision welcome news while filmmaker Onir said regional cinema across the country needed state supportOnir lauded the move by the government saying it would inject a new life to the regional film industryldquoAppreciate the move by the govt of Maharashtra to support Marathi Cinema Regional cinema all over the country needs state support Marathi cinema in the recent years have had some beautiful films They need to be given the screen space to make regional cinema flourish Providing prime time screen space to Marathi will help vitalize the industry and provide a healthy competition for good content cinemardquo Onir tweetedActor Rishi Kapoor said good cinema will survive irrespective of language Today theatre rentals so high difficult for weak films to survive irrespective of language Case in point FampF7 Open field anyone welcome You cannot thrust anything on anyone zabardasti If it is good it will survive otherwise Cinema is also a business Big monies involved Ritesh Deshmukhs film in Marathi was a super hit So were others So welcome all We are all equal here in cinema May the best win sic he wroteTanuj Garg however said decisions on movie programming should be based on business and revenue potential and left to distributors and exhibitorsFilmmaker and censor board member Ashoke Pandit said Any kind of force is not good for a democracy you can request these multiplexes that you adjust the regions vis a vis great cinema a request can be made and let us understand that this is businessAccording to director Sudhir Mishra Marathi cinema was doing good and should be promotedI dont know if there can be anything mandatory or forcible but I hope all regional cinemas are encouraged I think it is good if Marathi films can be encouraged he told a news channelProducer Anubhav Sinha too supported the decision saying Regional Films must get proper and fair showcasing Specially when Marathi Industry is making such wonderful filmsTalking to a news channel filmmaker Mukesh Bhatt said ldquoGovernment is behaving like dictators It doesnrsquot seem like we are living in a democratic societysuch decisions should be taken collectivelyrdquoSimilarly writer Shobhaa De also a Mumbai resident noted that a discussion should have have taken place before arriving to the final judgmentldquoGovernment should have consulted parties before making decision Is government willing to give subsidy to multiplexesrdquo she saidThe writer also took to microblogging site Twitter to express her anguish over the issue which snowballed into a controversyldquoI love Marathi movies Let me decide when and where to watch them Devendra Fadnavis This is nothing but Dadagirirdquo Shobhaa tweeted adding No more pop corn at multiplexes in Mumbai Dahi misal and vada pav only To go better with the Marathi movies at prime timeBollywood stars and Maharashtrian by birth Shreyas Talpade and Riteish who have showed their acting calibre in Marathi films as well expressed mixed reactions on the issueWhere Riteish pointed out competing with peoples favourite Hindi films will be difficult for states cinema Shreyas said that a middleground should be reachedldquoPeople prefer Hindi films It will be hard for Marathi films to competerdquo Riteish saidldquoThe move will help Marathi movies but I think middle ground should be reachedrdquo Shreyas saidFilmmaker Vivek Agnihotri posted ldquoI donrsquot see whatrsquos wrong if Marathi film industry gets impetus Isnrsquot that everyone wants Only if they can add Indies nonstarrer with itrdquo