With the industry buoyant, Marathi cinema pundits say that letting go of Bharatmata makes bad business sense. One of India's oldest regional film industries, Marathi cinema had lost ground to Bollywood, after a golden run in the '40s and '50s, due to lack of screening space apart from lack of talent and the rise of television. However, since 2004, fortunes have been on the upswing.

In 2007, 90 films were made in all, with a Rs 60 crore turnover. In 2004 and 2005, 57 films were made (23 more than 2003) and 72 in 2006. Ajay Sarpotdar, the president of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal, expects "the earnings of the Marathi film industry to go up three-fold this year".

What's heartening is not just these numbers but also the quantum leap in quality -- a far cry from the '70s and the '80s, when films modelled on Maharashtra's tamasha culture, replete with double-meaning dialogues, dominated the scene. This has been ushered in by the young brigade of Marathi filmmakers of around a dozen who have entered the field with oodles of talent, fresh ideas and interesting narratives.

Umesh Kulkarni's Valu and Mangesh Hadwale's Tingya, which have created a buzz even at international festivals, consolidate this phenomenon. The two recent films also bridge the gaping rural and urban audience divide. Saade Made Teen, Checkmate and Kadachit too achieved this apart from creating ripples at the box-office as well as impressing critics. All of them have a strong storyline, offer variety and are packaged well, appealing to the traditional audience base of "pensioners and middle-age couples", as well as youths and urbanites.

What has helped the industry is the Government pitching in with subsidies, and investment by corporates as well as Bollywood producers and distributors. Gone are the days when films were made on a meagre Rs 16-lakh budget. Now, producers like Sarpotdar are spending as much as Rs 1.6 crore (for his upcoming Uladal) with the confidence of getting a good return.

And experts feel only 30 per cent of the market has been tapped as yet. The new frontier is abroad, and a step has been taken in this direction with a festival of 14 Marathi films scheduled to begin on May 14 in Mauritius.