M-Town's spooky tale

Marathi filmmakers have been tapping various subjects in their films in the last few years. But one genre that has been least experimented with is horror. Last year's Sa Sasucha directed by debutant director Kishore Belekar was the only horror release on Marathi celluloid.
This year, it's director Pratik Kadam who is set to give the Marathi audience its first spooky experience of the year with his horror flick Aik.Most Marathi filmmakers have noticeably stayed away from generating eerie content. Why? 'Most horror films need particular sets, special effects, graphics, 3D. With limited resources, Marathi directors simply cannot afford all that. Also some feel that these films do not have mass appeal unlike entertainers,' says director Mahesh Manjrekar. Filmmaker Mahesh Kothare adds that if they make a horror film, they are competing with Hollywood. 'At times, B-Town's horror content seems weak in comparison with Hollywood's astounding budgets and advanced filmmaking, so I don't see Marathi films to have any standing.
It's not that we don't have the concerned literature available on the topic as there are a lot of folk tales, narratives and tales based on the Konkan area that are enough to generate stories. But no one has yet approached me with such subjects,' he says.
As the ratio of such movies faring badly at the box-office is higher, most producers are unwilling to invest in horrors or thrillers, says director Aditya Sarpotdar. 'Investors are not confident of the returns so they are hesitant to trade their money on such projects. Also some other factors are de-motivators like low satellite returns and the requirement of an 'A' certificate which further narrows down the audience,' he explains.
But the uncertain fate of such movies has failed to hamper the enthusiasm of directors like Belekar and Kadam. Kadam tells us why he ventured on the untrodden path. 'Horror films or thrillers and have always had a niche audience, and I wanted to make a film for such viewers. Also I wanted to do something different than usual. After reading the interesting script, I was further convinced of making this film,' he says.
Considering the fact that such releases haven't yielded much success in the past, did he find it a risky move? Kadam feels that the risk factor exists with any kind of film that one makes. 'While I agree that the Marathi audience hasn't yet developed an affinity towards horror films, I think it's mostly because they have been subjected to formulated horror films in the past showing gory characters and unbelievable plots to the extent of being funny. I have purposefully avoided showing irrelevant things in Aik and have tried to apply logic to every shot to make it believable. The camerawork, special effects and sound, which is all thanks to modern technology, have added to the film,' he says.
In the past, some thrillers like Pratibimb, Ti Ratra and Chakva have done reasonable business. Sarpotdar adds, 'If the story is powerful, the movie can stand a chance of doing good business. A movie like Aik, which is a modern version, will be the testing ground and if it hits the jackpot, I believe many filmmakers will follow the trend.'