Raavsaheeb's selection at NFDC Film Bazaar will open doors for Marathi projects seeking better scale, says Nikhil Mahajan

Director Nikhil Mahajan and producer Akshay Bardapurkar’s Raavsaheeb has been selected for the National Film Development Corporation [NFDC] Film Bazaar’s International Co-Production Market.

The film has been produced by Jitendra Joshi and Nehha Pendse along with Bardapurkar’s Planet Marathi. It’s an environmental thriller and its poster contains the image of a tiger and a few animals, along with the silhouettes of three people.

“Film Bazaar Online, hosted by India’s NFDC, has selected over 20 projects this year that will get a chance to secure backing from Indian and international producers, directors, programmers, financiers and sales agents at Open Pitch Online. The projects originate from 11 countries and feature a diverse range of Indian and European languages including Assamese, Bengali, English, German, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani and Malayalam. Akshay Bardapurkar’s Raavsaheb is one of these prestigious projects,” read a statement from the makers. 

Apart from Mahajan, the film has been written by Prajakt Deshmukh and Shripad Deshpande. Mahajan previously starred in the Marathi films Pune 52 (2013), Baji (2015) and Godavari (2021). The last one, which will be released on 3 December, has also been produced by Jitendra Joshi. Planet Marathi’s June, which was released on its OTT platform this June, was written by Mahajan. 

A statement from the makers read, “The film is touted to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller featuring top-of-the-line prosthetic and VFX work. It is to be shot on location at the Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur, Maharashtra. It will feature many more leading faces of the Marathi film industry. Bardapurkar and Mahajan duo will strike again after the first-ever TVOD release of June on Planet Marathi OTT.”

Speaking about his association with Mahajan, Bardapurkar said in a statement, "I have worked with Nikhil in the past and I can vouch for the talent he demonstrates as a director. Planet Marathi believes in making good content overcome hurdles and letting good entertainment get the spotlight. We are excited to pitch this amazing film to our global delegates. This is a wonderful opportunity for Marathi talent to get recognized for their talent."

Mahajan added, "The screenplay of Raavsaheeb is close to our hearts. We know that with the backing of Planet Marathi and my dear friend Akshay, Nehha, Jitendra and I are thrilled to collaborate with him again through which we will be able to represent Marathi talent on a global platform. This also opens up doors for many Marathi projects that seek a better scale for their creative projects."

Raavsaheeb will go on the floors in February 2022.