“BOX OFFICE SUCCESS OF MOVIES LIKE ‘SHUTTER’ IS A COMING OF AGE FOR MARATHI CINEMA” – Manisha Korde

Shutter Enters 3^rd Week 

Mumbai: When popular Bollywood writer Manisha Korde was approached to write and adapt cult Malayalam film Shutter into Marathi, she was, initially, skeptical about its mass appeal. While she was certain that the film would draw critical acclaim, she had felt it might not ride the gravy train at the box office.

Manisha Korde, Script Writer

“Even though the history of Marathi cinema is as old as history of films in India, the last few decades have not been encouraging. Just like ‘Raja Harishchandra’, while Marathi filmmakers experimented with new and bold themes, they did not evoke proportionate response at the box office. Critical acclaim was plenty, but without finances it always would have been difficult for good story telling culture to survive. Many films that I personally thought were brilliant and should have been blockbusters only aroused lukewarm interest,” says Manisha Korde, writer of Shutter, starring Sachin Khedekar, Prakash Bare and Sonalee Kulkarni among others. The original film in Malayalam of the same name was written and directed by Joy Mathews.

“It was only after 2005 that critically acclaimed movies also started making an impact at the box office. Movies like Shwas, Natrang, Balak Palak, Prem Mhanje Prem Mhanje Prem Asta, to name a few, became huge success. Not merely from the point of view of commercial viability of Marathi cinema, the success of good films also go on to the building of a strong foundation and thereby, defines the coming of age of Marathi cinema. The high quality of popular Malayalam cinema is a direct consequence of the foundation laid by films with tight grammar and parsing by makers like Aravindan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and John Abraham in the 80s,” she adds

Shutter starring Sachin Khedekar, Prakash Bare and Sonalee Kulkarni among others became a runaway success after it hit the screens on 3^rd July. It managed to maintain its ground in Mumbai and Pune against big releases and continues to be the primary choice for cinegoers in the rest of Maharashtra.

“Shutter is a film that is simple and straight on the face of it, but has a very sensitive undertone. The nuances are not very apparent. So I am glad, not just for myself and other Shutter team members but also for the future of Marathi cinema, that the audience has enjoyed a film like this and have given it a huge thumbs up,” concludes Manisha Korde.

One of the leading film writers in India today, Manisha Korde has scripted films like Malamaal Weekly, Dhol, Bhool Bhulaiyyaa, Billu, and Bumm Bumm Bhole, among others. In 2013, she wrote her first Marathi film Prem Mhanje Prem Mhanje Prem Asta. Shutter is the second film in her native language and for which she won the Best Screenplay Award at the Mumbai International Women’s Film Festival.