Mumbai: Directing films was on his wish list for quite some time, said Riteish Deshmukh, who is happy about going behind the camera for the first time with the upcoming Marathi movie 'Ved'.
The actor, known for the 'Housefull' series, 'Ek Villain' and 'Marjaavaan', ventured into Marathi cinema as a producer with 2013's 'Balak Palak' and followed it up with 'Yellow'.
"Direction is something I was attracted to for many years but didn't have the courage to do because I was acting. In the last three or four years, I have been trying to figure it out. Even the film that I have directed, 'Ved', is something that worked out itself for me," Deshmukh, who has also starred in Marathi films 'Lai Bhaari' and 'Mauli', told a top news agency.
With Maharashtra also being home to Bollywood, the actor said Marathi films face stiff competition from Hindi cinema.
"It is tough for Marathi cinema to survive with Hindi cinema in the same state when the first preference is to watch Hindi cinema over Marathi cinema. When Marathi movies become a second choice, their theatre share invariably goes down," he added.
Citing examples of critical Marathi hit films such as Nagraj Manjule's 'Sairat' and 'Natsamrat' by Mahesh Manjrekar, the 43-year-old actor said the state needs at least two such movies every year to lure the masses to theatres.
"The idea is how we can go from the third to the second option to be an equal option. We have to figure out how to attract an audience. Maharashtra has a 12 crore population and I believe nine to 10 crore will be a Marathi-speaking audience. We can tap into that substantial base with very few films. 'Sairat' did brilliantly. Films like 'Lai Bhaari' and 'Natsamrat' reached the maximum audience. But we need more such films. We need two films every year," he said.
Recently, Deshmukh made his digital debut with 'Plan A Plan B', co-starring Tamannaah Bhatia. The coming-of-age film was directed by Shashanka Ghosh of 'Veere Di Wedding' fame and written by Rajat Arora. It premiered on 'Netflix' last month.
"It was a time when the pandemic had hit, OTT was something that I was looking forward to. But nothing had materialised. Every other day, I am offered a UP gangster role. When this film came, I was like, 'They are doing a rom-com, let's do it'. I got the opportunity to do a rom-com after 10 years. Besides, it's a light-hearted watch," he added.