Sairat
Sairatfacebook

Marathi film "Sairat," starring Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar, has struck a chord with the audience, which has made the film a box office success. "Sairat" fetched more than Rs. 12 crore in its opening weekend from the box office in Maharashtra, which is more than Nana Patekar's critically acclaimed movie "Natsamrat."

Marathi cinema has again overpowered Hindi cinema at the theatres in Maharashtra. Even with a limited screen count, the romantic drama, directed by Nagraj Manjule, has minted good figures. The three-day collection of "Sairat" is higher than Nana's "Namsamrat."

Nana's "Natsamrat," which released on Jan. 1, recorded over Rs. 10 crore, which is one of the biggest weekend openers in Marathi cinema. But now, "Sairat" has shattered the records with Rs. 12.10 crore income.

"Marathi film #Sairat has a PHENOMENAL opening weekend. Fri 3.60 cr, Sat 3.95 cr, Sun 4.55 cr. Total: ₹ 12.10 cr. AMAZING word of mouth," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.

"Sairat" received rave reviews from critics and soon after the release, the audience's positive review started pouring in on Facebook and Twitter. The film is backed by strong reviews and word-of-mouth and is running housefull at several centres in Maharashtra.

Marathi films have been garnering good occupancy in theatres nowadays, giving a tough competition to Bollywood films. However, filmmakers believe that the regional films should be promoted well to create curiosity among the audience.

"If you manage to market your film well, then there will naturally be curiosity among the audience. In Marathi cinema, very few films are sold on the names of stars, directors and composers. In case of Sairat, it has all the elements and the response has been amazing. Even the midnight shows are running houseful. In such cases, you tend to get more screens," the National Award-winning director told Mid-Day.

"If a film is good and has good names, theatre owners will be happy to give more screens to it, even in prime time slots," director Sanjay Jadhav said.

[1 lakh = 100,000 | 1 crore = 10 million | 100 crore = 1 billion]