Filmmaker Kedar Shinde and Jio Studios’ multi-starrer Marathi movie Baipan Bhari Deva is not only doing well at the box office but also breaking records. However, before starting the film, there was a time when Shinde wasn’t finding a producer.
In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, the filmmaker revealed, “For around nine months, I didn’t get a producer for this film. You might not believe this. I had cried for several nights. Whoever used to read the script would say, ‘Who will go (to the theatres) to watch six women, Kedar?’ I used to try to tell them that there is fun in the story; do listen. But then everything fell into place, and we got a producer. The biggest triumph for the film was that Jio Studios took it. Nikhil Sane placed this film at a high level.”
Although Baipan Bhari Deva has achieved such glory, Shinde said that he wasn’t thinking about the end results. “We only do our work without thinking about the expectations,” he said. “It has already been written in the Gita, ‘Karam karo, phal ki apeksha mat karo.’ I personally worship Swami Samarth. All the things he has given me is because of my hard work. I did plays, television shows and movies. I have presented some important works in front of the audience, to which they have given an excellent response.”
The team, however, had to wait long for the film to release after it was shot back in 2020. “It was a tough period,” said Shinde. “But I used to feel that we have done well. At that time, I didn’t know what Swami Samarth’s wish was. This was His wish. Sometimes when things don’t go as per your wishes, you should leave everything to God.”
Baipan Bhari Deva has six actresses of different age groups – Rohini Hattangadi, Vandana Gupte, Sukanya Kulkarni Mone, Suchitra Bandekar, Shilpa Navalkar and Deepa Parab. One would assume that getting all six actresses on board would be a challenge, but Shinde says that wasn’t the case at all.
“After our writer Vaishali Naik narrated the story to me, the six actress I thought of were exactly these six,” he said. “It wasn’t the case of me approaching another actress after I didn’t get the one I wanted in a particular role. It was a tailor-made role for each of them. If you win over 50 % in the casting, the remaining journey becomes easy. But in my case, I won 100% in the casting. All of them are good actresses, so they will act well. They have that much sense.”
The challenge for Shinde, however, was to bring all six actresses together on the set from the make-up room. “When two women are in each other’s company, you know how much they talk. In this case, there were going to be six, who would be chatting a lot in the make-up room. The difficult task of bringing all of them on the set was completed by my daughter Sana Shinde, who was the assistant. I wouldn’t have been able to do the film in this time without her,” he said.
Shinde revealed that Naik got the story idea from the situation of her mother who retired from work and had one regret that she never got to do manglagaur, the dance form explored in the movie.
Shinde has been a part of the Marathi industry for over two decades. Sharing his take on the state of Marathi cinema currently, he said, “Marathi cinema isn’t lagging behind. The problem is too much competition from Hindi, south, Hollywood, Punjabi, Gujarati, etc. Films of all languages release in Maharashtra, especially Mumbai. And if 4-5 Marathi films are lined up for release in the same week, it becomes a bigger problem. At the end of the day, the audience is very smart. They know what to see. My film Maharashtra Shaheer ran for a short duration as it couldn’t get theatres. But that was the fate of that film. For Baipan Bhari Deva, we got everything.”
Recently, Bollywood Hungama did a story on whether Marathi films aren’t getting many theatres, which is regularly alleged by people from the industry. Sharing his take on the issue, Shinde said, “What to say about it after Baipan Bhari Deva? We are getting 21 shows (in one multiplex). The screens are directly proportional to the audience. If there is audience, we will get everything. The need of the hour is to think on how to bring the audience to the theatres.”
Shinde has made plays, TV shows and movies. Is OTT next? He said, “I have never approached anyone for work. Till now, I have always found work through my previous works. I am interested in doing an OTT show, but I haven’t found a suitable opportunity. If I like what I am offered, I will surely do it. I also want to do Hindi films, but I am not offered anything. I had done a Hindi film Toh Baat Pakki with Sharman Joshi and Tabu in 2008, but it didn’t quite do well. In Hindi, if your first film doesn’t do well, it becomes difficult.”
As per latest updates, Baipan Bhari Deva has reached Rs. 50 crores at the box office in less than 20 days, which is a phenomenal achievement.
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