What drives writer-director Nilesh Malkar to make Konkani movies? Love. His love for Konkani. And that's coincidently, even the title for his third Konkani film, #Mog!.
In a span of about two hours five minutes, the film takes us through the journey of the protagonist, which has been scripted and drafted in the form of a love story, says Nilesh.
"It's a woman-oriented subject," he informs. "No one has gone into this story dimension before. The film highlights the role of a woman, without which the whole cycle of life can't be complete," says Nilesh.
#Mog! has been made on the scale of a Bollywood film, informs Nilesh. "But we have cut costs," he says, narrating how none of the lead actors charged what they normally do, while working in their native language film industry.
"They agreed purely due to their love for Konkani," he says, continuing how crucial it is to cut costs such as this in order to make a quality film which can do well.
PAN INDIA KONKANI FILM
#Mog! is slated to be released in different states. Nilesh explains the marketing strategy, "I wanted to make this a pan India film. For that, we roped in the male lead from the Tamil film industry. The lead actress is from Maharashtra, who is fluent in Konkani."
Through the strategy of aiming to go pan India by taking in different faces from other film industries, Nilesh says the producer can break even.
Nilesh's earlier Konkani film, Soul Curry, had well-known Bollywood stars, Jackie Shroff and Seema Biswas.
He avers, "If a producer puts in money, there has got to be a reason why he puts in money. Producers will come forward when there's a good story and also when a director puts forth a proper marketing strategy at the same time. It helps make recovery of money invested easier," he says.
The rest of the cast of #Mog! and the technical crew is all Goan. The post-production for the film has been done in Goa itself, he informs.
HOW KONKANI FILMS ARE SHAPING UP
Goa already has a film culture, believes Nilesh. "There's no issue about it," he says. "What’s required is a proper push, and that push comes from yourself. If people can watch a Spanish film, why won't they watch a Konkani film?" he asks.
"But you can't expect audiences to go and watch a film only because it’s in Konkani. It has to be on par. Once your film gets audiences, even multiplexes don't reject your shows," he adds.
COMING UP
After his foray into Konkani films with Soul Curry, which was followed by Kantaar, Nilesh says he has more Konkani films in the pipeline with big corporate houses to join. One such film is on the pre- Liberation era of Goa, he reveals.
"I have decided to make more films in Konkani. I love the language. For now, I am thankful to our producers for having faith in me and I pray to God that the people love #Mog!, and it becomes the talk of the town," he says, signing off.
#Mog! will be screened at Audi I, Maquinez Palace, Panjm, on Sunday, Nov 26, 2023 (at 2 pm).
