The key is creative storytelling: Zombivli team on its 'out-of-the-box' cinema

Aditya Sarpotdar's Zombivli will mark a few firsts upon its release on 26 January. The film, the first zombie horror comedy in Marathi, had a promising trailer launch on 18 January, with the director and the cast in attendance. 

Speaking to Cinestaan.com at the launch, director Sarpotdar said there is an urgent need to create 'out-of-the-box' productions to entice audiences back to the theatres. "There has to be pressure to create. It is very important," he said.

"Marathi cinema does deliver on unique films," he continued. "But we have had very random attempts. It is not in a regular or consistent manner. We are sometimes guilty of following trends. Trends do not always work."

Sarpotdar said the industry will face growing competition from other parts of the country and the world. "As an audience, I am seeking something new," he said. "If everything looks and feels similar, we [filmmakers] have to break the clutter."

Describing the zombie comedy as a step in that direction, the filmmaker said, "We may not compete in scale, but it has never been the agenda to compete in scale. The agenda is to surpass in content."

Zombivli, starring Lalit Prabhakar, Amey Wagh, Vaidehi Parshurami, Trupti Khamkar and Janaki Pathak, revolves around a group of people trapped as a zombie apocalypse spreads across Dombivli, a distant suburb of Mumbai.

The film was among the first to be shot after the countrywide lockdown of 2020 and arrives in theatres after several major Hindi films like 83 (2021) have done below-par business.

At the trailer launch, Sarpotdar credited the Marathi film Jhimma (2021), which managed to do impressive business despite the 50% attendance limitation in Maharashtra, as an influence on their decision to advance Zombivli's release.

Jhimma's success is a sign of the presence of an audience for creatively made, story-focused films in Marathi, the filmmaker said.

Lalit Prabhakar put this down to the diversity of stories on OTT platforms. "In this lockdown, people's exposure to web-series, styles and formats has grown," he said. "On some scale, you can't compete with them. You can't make an Avengers because there is a budget limitation. It is not a thought-level issue though. What can you produce differently within your limitations? That's the game." 

That, Prabhakar added, is what Zombivli has attempted. "Although there have been zombie films in the world, how do we make it into our own story from the soil?" he said. "The concept might be foreign, but to make it relate to people, create a story that raises questions from your own society and brings out our issues is key."

Citing the example of the recent success of Basil Joseph's Minnal Murali (2021) on Netflix, Sarpotdar said, "I think Marathi cinema is in the same space. We may not have great budgets. We might make a film in Rs4 crore and have to compete with a Rs100 crore Hindi film. In that scenario, the limitations sometimes work in your favour. If you are attempting, like us, a zombie film on a limited budget, you put your money on content, on the story, technique, performances rather than the spectacle."

Vaidehi Parshurami added that the film covers both scale and novelty. "We are here to set a benchmark," she said. "This film has both, a large visual scale and a unique concept. I am sure others watching may think 'If this team can gather together in a pandemic, shoot a film with such a unique concept on this scale, and execute it, then we should do it as well.' I am sure Zombivli will be a trendsetting film."

Amey Wagh chipped in to say, "Despite the subject having never been attempted in Marathi, we have created a story which is set amongst the people and relatable. It is rooted in this region." The actor said while big-budget Hindi cinema may hamper visibility for Marathi films, it is not a negative thing. "I belong to a new generation and therefore hope that some day Marathi cinema will attain the same appeal that Malayalam cinema has over the globe today," he said. "The focus has to be on the content. A series like Money Heist, made in Spanish, becomes a rage across the world. OTT has given exposure to cinema from across the world. Whatever we make will be held up in comparison with the world. That is why I feel good about Zombivli."