Akshay Bardapurkar, who recently started Planet Marathi, India's first OTT platform exclusively for Marathi content, has written to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as well as cultural affairs minister Amit Deshmukh, asking the state government to subsidize Marathi digital films.
According to the existing rule, subsidy is provided only to those Marathi films which are released in theatres. Howver, in the current scenario, with theatres still shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of films are releasing directly on OTT platforms.
“Right now it is mandatory for a Marathi film to release in theatres in order to get government subsidy. We, on behalf of Planet Marathi, are requesting you to consider a film worthy of subsidy irrespective of the medium it is released in. In the coming times, releasing films online is going to be a major part of the business,” said the letter. It also said, “We are hopeful that you will take Marathi film industry on a positive road by taking this historic and revolutionary decision.”
Bardapurkar is the chairman and managing director of Planet Marathi, while actor Pushkar Shrotri and music composer Aditya V Oke are its chief executive officer and chief operating officer, respectively.