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By:

Bharati Dubey

17 May 2026 at 1:38:10 am

Raja Shivaji sparks a new era for Marathi cinema

Mumbai: As Raja Shivaji marches steadily towards the Rs 100 crore mark, the film has reignited debate around the future of the Marathi film industry. Having already crossed Rs 80 crore at the Indian box office, the historical drama is now only the second Marathi film after Sairat to achieve the milestone. Its success has raised a larger question within the trade: can a major blockbuster finally attract sustained investment into Marathi cinema, an industry often marked by cycles of growth and...

Raja Shivaji sparks a new era for Marathi cinema

Mumbai: As Raja Shivaji marches steadily towards the Rs 100 crore mark, the film has reignited debate around the future of the Marathi film industry. Having already crossed Rs 80 crore at the Indian box office, the historical drama is now only the second Marathi film after Sairat to achieve the milestone. Its success has raised a larger question within the trade: can a major blockbuster finally attract sustained investment into Marathi cinema, an industry often marked by cycles of growth and slowdown? Much of the buzz surrounding the film stems from the support it received from prominent Hindi film stars, several of whom reportedly came on board to back the project and the industry. Trade analyst Girish Wankhede believes the film’s biggest achievement lies in the scale of collaboration it represents. “The real strength of Raja Shivaji lies in its creative ensemble star cast, which Riteish Deshmukh successfully brought together. By roping in heavyweight Hindi stars like Abhishek Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, and Salman Khan, the film showcases the immense combined value of cross-industry collaboration. This strong gesture of Hindi cinema’s biggest names extending full support to a Marathi project has created a powerful impression, generating tremendous curiosity and respect for Marathi cinema among audiences, investors, and other industries. It underscores how Marathi films can now command pan-Indian attention and star power,” he says. At the same time, Wankhede feels it may still be premature to call the film a runaway commercial success given its production scale and costs. “What is heartening is the visible new energy and creative fuel that Riteish Deshmukh has infused into Marathi cinema. With him at the helm of affairs, the film looks strong and polished, and this momentum, further amplified by the star support, is already drawing serious attention from investors who were earlier hesitant about the regional space,” he adds. Producer Suniel Wadhwa, Co-Founder and Director of Karmic Films, says the film’s performance could play an important role in rebuilding investor confidence in theatrical cinema. “The success of Raja Shivaji could significantly improve investor confidence in theatrical cinema, especially at a time when many non-film investors have become cautious about the sector. If the film succeeds as a large-scale theatrical event rather than just an opening weekend phenomenon, it will reinforce the belief that culturally rooted Indian stories still possess massive commercial potential across regions and demographics,” he says. However, Wadhwa points out that the industry continues to face deep structural challenges. “One of the biggest is the shortage of true theatrical stars who can create urgency for audiences to step into cinemas. Streaming has created visibility, but not necessarily ticket-selling mythology. At the same time, India remains heavily under-screened, and even strong films often struggle with inadequate show slots, limited showcasing windows, and overcrowded release calendars. Many films today are judged within the first 48–72 hours, leaving little room for organic word-of-mouth growth,” he says. According to him, the theatrical business is evolving rather than disappearing. “Audiences are now reserving cinema outings for event-driven experiences — spectacle, emotion, mythology, action, horror-comedy, and culturally resonant storytelling. Films that can create that collective viewing urgency will continue to attract both audiences and serious investment capital,” he adds. The Marathi film industry has witnessed a mixed year so far. More than two dozen films have released, but only a handful — including Raja Shivaji, Kranti Vidyalay Marathi Madhyam, Aga Aga Sunbai Mahnatay Sasubai, and Super Duper — have performed strongly at the box office. Veteran journalist Dilip Thakur believes Marathi cinema has already begun regaining momentum after the slowdown caused by the pandemic. “New Marathi films are getting launched regularly. The upcoming film Bapya had its screening at Sunny Super Sound, which was attended by non-Marathi journalists in big numbers. The story of Bapya is complex and difficult to make. The point here is that a producer agreed to put his money into the film. Sabar Bonda was another difficult subject which won an award at Sundance. So, producers willing to invest money in such subjects is one positive sign,” he says. Thakur also points to the continued appetite for mainstream Marathi entertainers. “The boom after Sairat still exists in Marathi cinema. There was a setback for four years because of Covid, but the industry has gained momentum. Ravi Jadhav’s new film Fulawara, based on tamasha folk art, will soon go on floors in Pune,” he says. He further notes that Marathi cinema is increasingly attracting investors from outside the industry. “Most Marathi films have non-Marathi investors. They are putting in money because there is business in Marathi cinema. But not every film becomes a hit. Subhash Ghai also produced a few Marathi films. If the subject is good, people are willing to invest,” he adds. Not everyone, however, is convinced that one major hit can alter the industry’s fortunes overnight. Nitin Datar, president of the Cinema Owners Association, remains cautious about reading too much into the film’s success. “Only one film success is not going to bring investors. In the last five years, out of nearly 500 films produced, the success rate has not been encouraging,” he says. Datar acknowledges that the presence of Hindi stars has helped boost the film’s commercial appeal but stresses that Marathi cinema still lacks enough bankable stars capable of consistently drawing audiences to theatres. “The production houses and directors have attracted audiences. Unfortunately, producers haven’t been successful in attracting financial assistance, which has resulted in low production and advertising budgets. But if films succeed in pulling audiences over the weekend, exhibitors automatically increase shows and reduce screenings of underperforming films from other languages. The audience is always there, waiting to visit theatres in large numbers for a good film,” he says. For now, Raja Shivaji has undeniably given Marathi cinema a strong moment in the spotlight. Whether that momentum translates into long-term financial confidence and sustained industry growth remains the larger question.

The Pace And Pressure Paradox

When a founder’s speed becomes the team’s anxiety

Some workdays don’t derail because of workload. They derail because of pace. At The Workshop … the same growing design firm readers will remember from earlier chapters … the day didn’t start with tasks or priorities. It started with Rohit’s walk.


By 9:10 a.m., the team already knew what kind of day it would be.


Not from the sprint board. Not from Slack. Just from the way Rohit entered the room with fast steps, tight voice, eyes already three decisions ahead. He wasn’t upset. He wasn’t angry.


He was simply moving fast — the only speed many founders know when the stakes rise. But speed creates signals. And at The Workshop, the signal was unmistakable: “Brace yourselves.”


The Sprint That Went Sideways

Here’s what happened in the first ten minutes:

  • Aman started defending tasks no one had questioned.

  • Priya clipped her sentences short, afraid long explanations might trigger scrutiny.

  • Meera shuffled her notes, rehearsing answers no one had asked for.

  • Two interns opened Figma reflexively … even though the meeting had nothing to do with design.


Nobody said the words. But everybody understood the agenda: Survive the founder’s tempo.


This is the heart of the Pace & Pressure Paradox: Leaders feel urgency. Teams experience anxiety. Founders feel the push of customers, deadlines, and cash flow. Teams feel the push of emotion, tone, and unpredictability.


Passion Like Pressure

To Rohit, urgency meant momentum. To the team, urgency meant something might be wrong. Because when leaders operate at high emotional speed, teams don’t interpret velocity as enthusiasm … they interpret it as evaluation. In scaling companies, urgency tastes like crisis even when it’s not. What begins as passion in the founder quietly becomes pressure in the team. And the workplace becomes synchronized not to systems… but to mood.


Pattern 1: When Urgency Becomes the Default Setting

Urgency works beautifully in short bursts. But when everything is urgent, nothing feels safe.


Inside teams, this shows up as:

  • Work becoming reactive

  • Planning becoming optional

  • Delegation becoming chaotic

  • Reflection becoming a luxury

  • Calm weeks feeling suspicious


At The Workshop, urgency had become structural. And structural urgency always leads to exhaustion. Founders celebrate speed. Teams survive it. Until they can’t.

 

Pattern 2: The Mood-Driven Company

Most organisations don’t run on processes. They run on emotional weather. And the founder becomes the climate. At The Workshop, there were three seasons:

  1. Clear Skies: Rohit upbeat, team relaxed

  2. Pressure Winds: Rohit stressed, team cautious

  3. High Alert: Rohit intense, team silent


People began calibrating behavior based on Rohit’s facial expression, not the sprint plan. Speak less. Move faster. Ask nothing. Avoid friction. Stay invisible. They weren’t managing work. They were managing the boss. Once that shift occurs, performance stops being system-driven. It becomes emotion-driven. And nothing slows a company faster than emotional governance.


Pattern 3: The Aggression–Passivity Cycle

Founders rarely see this. Teams live it.


The cycle looks like this:

Phase 1: Overdrive

The team mirrors the boss’s intensity.


Phase 2: Silent Compliance

They stop pushing back. Execution becomes obedient, not intelligent.


Phase 3: Passive Breakpoint

People lose nuance. Creativity collapses. Ownership shrinks. The founder sees this slowdown and thinks, “They’ve lost energy.” The team sees the founder’s speed and thinks, “We’ve lost permission.” Both are wrong. Both are right. That’s what makes this paradox so expensive.


Case Study: The Agency Pitch Night

A creative agency we worked with experienced the same spiral. The founder burst into a pitch room at 7:45 p.m.: “We need to redo this deck. The client won’t get it.” Three designers, two strategists, one copywriter … everyone leapt into panic execution. At 11 p.m., the founder casually reversed course: “Let’s go with the old version.”


The team didn’t feel relief. They felt whiplash. Two people quietly began job-hunting the next week. It wasn’t the workload. It was the volatility.


Case Study: The Logistics Ops Escalation

In a logistics firm, a six-hour delay led to a founder shouting: “Fix it now!”


No one clarified priorities. No one asked what “fix” meant. Everyone sprinted. By morning, 42 orders were mishandled. Speed didn’t solve the problem. Speed multiplied it.


Why Scaling Makes This Paradox Stronger

At 10 people, the founder’s pace is inspiring.

At 30, it becomes confusing.

At 50, destabilizing.


Because: Speed stops being charismatic and it becomes chaotic. Teams confuse urgency with crisis. Leaders confuse anxiety with disengagement. Founders often burn out teams long before teams burn out founders. Not from workload but from emotional velocity.


The real cost isn’t fatigue. It’s strategic shallowness. Companies become excellent at reacting and terrible at thinking.

 

The Real Paradox

A leader’s pace is their superpower. Inside a team, it becomes their shadow.


What energizes a founder destabilizes a team. What feels natural to a boss feels like pressure to everyone else. That’s the Pace & Pressure Paradox:

One person’s urgency becomes everyone else’s uncertainty.


(The writer is Co-founder at PPS Consulting. She writes about the human mechanics of scaling where workplace behaviour quietly shapes business outcomes.)

 

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