Marathi cinema

Marathi cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Marathi language, which is widely spoken in the state of Maharashtra. It is based out of Mumbai. It is the oldest film industry in India and one of the leaders in filmmaking in the Indian film industry.

Raja Harishchandra, directed by Dadasaheb Phalke and released in 1913, was the first Marathi-language film ever made, and was also India's first full-length feature film. The claim is disputed and some claim that Dadasaheb Torne's Shree Pundalik (1912) was the first film made in Maharashtra. The first Marathi talkie film was Ayodhyecha Raja, released in 1932, one year after Alam Ara, the first Hindi talkie film. All Marathi films until then were silent films with intertitles. Pinjara (1972), directed by V. Shantaram, was first colour film in Marathi cinema.

Kolhapur was a centre for film production during the 20th century, though currently, a majority of films are made in Mumbai. During Marathi cinema's infancy between the 1910s and 1930s, which only had silent films, the majority of films were made on Hindu mythological subjects. Later during the 1970s, films were made on rural stories. Between the 1980s and 1990s, comedy and thriller films started to flourish. Since the turn of the millennium, there have been films based on social subjects and biographical dramas. Although the industry is much smaller than Hindi cinema (which is also based in Mumbai), Marathi cinema is tax free at the privilege of the Government of Maharashtra, and is experiencing growth in recent years.