How digital media is haven for regional films?

With regional cinema finding a new lease of life last year with films like O Kadhal Kanmani (tamil), Bahubali (telugu), Court (Marathi), Qissa (Punjabi) finding pan-India audience in 2015, this year has had some interesting releases which found a new lease of life due to the word of mouth spread through blogs and social media.

Truly a democratic medium, social media is helping indie cinema break through the clutter of mainstream Bollywood marketing machine and reach out to its core audience. Here are a few films which are playing now in a theater near you to packed audis, while you await the next Khan blockbuster to hit the silver screen.

There also have been a few startups who are working specifically on promoting regional cinema through crowdfunding. For example, actor Kunal Kapoor and Varun Sheth cofounded crowd-funding platform Ketto which is a crowdfunding platform for regional cinema in India. At the crowd-funding startup Wishberry, regional movies are the buzz.

Here are the few most successful regional cinema gems of this year, so far:

Sairat (Marathi) – Director Nagraj Manjule



Probably the biggest Marathi film ever in terms of box office business, this story with two fresh faces (Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar) is an age old tale of love against all odds. Parshya is the cricket team captain and the brightest student in his year but the beautiful and confident Aarchi is out of his reach. She belongs to a higher caste, her family is rich and her father is a kingpin in local politics. Just another love story, right? Not so much as the issue of caste hiding in plain sight is dealt here beautifully. It has got some great response on social media, especially from non-regional crowd.

Watch it to see how a real love story unfolds in the Indian heartland.

Saddey CM Sahab – Director Vipin Parashar

Starring Punjabi pop singer Harbhajan Mann, and small screen regulars like Rahul Singh, Gurpreet Gughi among other, this is a political satire taking a critical look at two candidates for the post of Chief Minister from the same party going head on against each other. With elections due in the state in less than a month, this film also shares a timely message to its audience about importance of voting.

Idhu Namma Aalu – Pandiraj

Tamil film industry is probably among the most prolific in the world. Even Bollywood stars swear by their professionalism and technological advances. In the news for bringing former beaus Silambarasam and Nayanthara together on screen in a breezy love story, the film has been getting positive reviews from across the board. A simple story about a philandering man facing real life when his fiancée gets wind of his liaisons, this is one tale which will appeal to both genders but for contrasting reasons! Word of advice – carry separate popcorn buckets if you are going to watch this with your significant other!

What to watch out for?

In the coming weeks, few big releases are slated for the coming week, including Filmfare award winner Trivikram Srinivas’ A Aa (Telugu), Vijay Sethupathi starrer Iraivi and Lalbaugchi Rani, a Marathi film about a mentally challenged girl who gets lost in Mumbai. The digital world is bringing the offline promotions of regional films on a larger platform for lesser costs. That is what seems to work for most of these films.