Committee to be Established to Secure Additional Shows for Marathi Films in Multiplexes – Announcement by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde

Measures will be suggested to sustain and grow Marathi cinema
Committee to include Secretaries of Home, Urban Development, Transport, Cultural Affairs, along with Marathi producers, distributors, and multiplex owners

Mumbai, Aug 2025 : Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has directed the formation of a government-level committee to secure additional shows for Marathi films in multiplexes and to find a permanent solution to the associated issues. He instructed the committee to submit its report to the government within a month and a half, emphasizing that the state government is committed to ensuring the survival and growth of Marathi cinema.

A meeting was convened at Mantralaya under the initiative of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde with Marathi film producers, distributors, and representatives of various film worker unions from different political parties to discuss several pressing issues. These included limited screens for Marathi films in multiplexes, sudden removal of films from theaters within three days without prior notice, non-refund of remaining booking amounts despite charging a week’s fee, delays in obtaining censor board approvals for Marathi films, and last-minute changes or cancellations of scheduled show timings.

Present at the meeting were Cultural Affairs Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar, Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif, Tourism Minister Shambhuraj Desai, Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, Minister of State for Finance Adv. Ashish Jaiswal, Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam, Deputy CM’s Principal Secretary Navin Sona, Principal Secretary of Urban Development D. Govindaraj, Cultural Affairs Department Secretary Kiran Kulkarni, and other departmental officials. Also in attendance were Ameya Khopkar (MNS Chitrapat Sena), Sushant Shelar (Shiv Sena Chitrapat Sena), Babasaheb Patil (NCP Chitrapat Sena), Nanu Bhai Jaysinghani (Video Palace), Distributor Sameer Dixit, Meghraj Rajebhosale (Chairman, Chitrapat Mahamandal), and Sandeep Ghughe.

Deputy CM Shinde listened to the concerns of producers, distributors, and multiplex owners and reiterated that the government’s policy is to promote Marathi cinema. He emphasized that the Marathi film industry must thrive for the cinema to flourish, which necessitates a permanent solution to these issues.

Accordingly, a decision was made to establish a committee, to be chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department. The committee will include Principal Secretaries of Appeals and Security, Urban Development-2, Cultural Affairs, and Transport Departments, along with representatives of Marathi film producers, distributors, multiplex owners, Film City officials, Chitrapat Mahamandal representatives, and producer associations.

The committee has been tasked with submitting its report to the government within the next one and a half months, after which the state government will take a final decision on the matter, stated Deputy CM Shinde.