Shreyas turns producer
By Mid Day, 21 September, 2007

Shreyas Talpade and wife Dipti have turned producers. The first film to be produced under their banner, Affluence Films Pvt Ltd, is a Marathi film called Kanda Pohe.

Sameer Joshi, head of marketing at Mukta Arts, gave the first clap for the film at Corinthian Club, Pune. “The shot is from the middle of the film, where every character will be seen at a function,” explains Rajeev Patil, who is an award-winning director for the film Savarkhed Ek Gaon.

Thematic concern
The theme of Kanda Pohe is arranged marriage. It highlights typical Maharashtrian traditions like the first formal introduction of the prospective bride and groom. This film revolves around the lives of five such prospective couples, who end up at the Kanda Pohe marriage bureau run by an unmarried young man Rahul, played by Subodh Bhave. The other actors in the film are Tushaar Dalvi, Shilpa Tulaskar, Sai Tamhankar, Santosh Juvekar, Chinmay Mandrekar, and Neha Bamb, among others.

Next big thing?
“Mukta Arts is entering the Marathi film genre by presenting this film under the new banner Malpix Films. This film, made on a Rs 1 crore budget, is scheduled to be shot in a 30-day period,” explains Sameer Joshi. “With the multiplex boom and Subhash Ghai’s desire to give something back to Maharashtra, we decided to back Shreyas’s first film. Also, the Marathi film industry is at a stage where it is ready to explode and garner many awards,” he adds.

Good chance
The film will be ready for release in December. Shreyas says, “I was in Bangkok when I received a call from Subhashji, saying that he wanted to talk about producing a Marathi film. After an informal meeting, Subhashji suggested that I turn producer as this is the right opportunity to bank on.”

He further adds, “The story line is such that every Maharashtrian will relate to it, so my wife and I decided upon this film as our first. Like any Mukta banner, this film too will be a social entertainer.”
It was decided that one day Shreyas would look at producing a Marathi film, but for directing a film, “well, I think I will wait another three to fours years! Right now, I would concentrate on my acting career,” concludes Shreyas.