By Akshay Acharya Mumbai, Dec 8, 2008 : .After receiving the Silver Peacock Award for Best Actor from the Marathi film Godavari’ at 52nd International Film Festival of India, Jitendra Joshi, co-producer, and lead actor, was able to get the honours.
He and Nikhil Mahajan are now working on their next production, titled ‘Raavsaheb, starring Nehha Pedse Bayas, and Akshay Bardapurkar.
Mahajan was awarded the IFFI Special Jury Prize in Direction.
This made ‘Godavari” the first Marathi film ever to win two awards at an international film festival.
Joshi also has Vaibhav Khisti’s ‘Thoda Tuza and Thoda Maza’ as well as ‘Night Duty’, which Rohit Satpute, one of Mahajan’s assistants, on his schedule.
According to Mahajan, both films will soon be on the floors and ready for release in early 2023.
Under the Blue Drop Films banner, Jitendra Joshi and Mitali Joshi co-produced ‘Godavari’.
It tells the story about a family who lives on the banks the holy river in Nashik.The film’s other stars are Neena Kulkarni, Vikram Gokhale and Pavan Malu.
IANS spoke with Joshi and Mahajan about their film’s win, the struggles they had to put it together and the future prospects for Marathi cinema.
Joshi spoke out about the meaning of the Silver Peacock to him personally.
He said that it comes with a great responsibility to work harder and bring the best stories for the audience as both a producer as well as an actor.We are grateful to all the team, and the experience at IFFI was memorable for us.
Mahajan shared Joshi’s feelings of joy and said that “this film has been close in my heart since it comes with a purpose and I am grateful for my vision being appreciated.” It feels like a victory for our industry during these difficult times to win an international award for a Marathi movie.Today, regional content is becoming very important, especially in Marathi, which is being given its due credit.
Joshi stated that the ‘Godavari team’ faced many challenges.”Despite the first wave of Covid, the biggest challenge our crew faced was finishing the film in 16 days with senior actors.We were able to keep the crew and cast healthy and they didn’t get any infections.
Joshi said, “There was a little incident on the second day.Our director of photography fell and fractured his tail bone.After that, it became more difficult.Every day was a struggle.
To help finish the film, everyone went above and beyond their responsibilities.It was everyone’s film.
Mahajan described the film’s journey from its inception to its winning at IFFI.Jitendra and myself started ‘Godavari’ in memory of Mr Nishikant Kamat.
To make this film, we had to work with a very limited budget and a crazy production schedule during a pandemic.While we were content to have made the film we wanted, winning such prestigious awards at an international competition was a tremendous honor.
Joshi answered a question about how he plans to use the win to push the boundaries on upcoming projects.He said that it made him believe in the power and importance of the stories he really wants to tell.
It will motivate me to tell stories that I believe in, not content driven by market demands.
Joshi spoke out about the impact of the new decade on Marathi cinema in the hyperconnected world of the Internet.
He said that Marathi cinema had always been ahead in terms of storytelling content and content.Social media and the rise in OTTs have made it possible to overcome the distribution problems that regional content poses.In the coming years, I see Marathi cinema shining brightly.”
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