'Marathi viewers disenchanted by Bollywood'

Panaji, Nov 25 (IANS) Audiences in Maharashtra are gradually turning to regional films as the hype generated by Bollywood rarely translates into good cinema, Marathi filmmaker Girish Kulkarni said Thursday.

'Bollywood raises expectations to a high level, but what you get in the end is something different. They (audience) are looking for content...meaningful cinema now. Therefore, regional cinema is making inroads,' said Kulkarni, whose Marathi film 'Vihir' is included in the competition section of the 41st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here.

Umesh said new age directors were challenging the stereotypes which constrained Marathi cinema of late 1980s and 1990s.

'For the last seven, eight years, new directors have evolved, who do not succumb to what the audience wants. They choose the experiences of their lives as subjects,' he said.