The past 15 years have witnessed the resurgence of Marathi cinema. Among those leading from the front in the emergence of the new wave was filmmaker Nishikant Kamat. His directorial debut Dombivali Fast (2005) was a biting commentary on how the common man will rarely win against the corrupt system. Where it fetched him the National Award for Best Marathi Feature Film, the drama also compelled the Hindi movie industry to look at Marathi cinema — until then regarded as its poor cousin — as a treasure trove of powerful stories.

Interestingly, Kamat was at the centre of another milestone in Marathi cinema that occurred less than a decade later. His brainchild, Lai Bhaari (2014), which marked the Marathi debut of actor-producer Riteish Deshmukh, was a raging hit at the box-office. In rivalling the earnings of some Bollywood films that year, it redefined the commerce of regional cinema. Perhaps, Kamat had imbibed the importance of box-office figures from the Hindi film industry, having spent over six years in Bollywood by then.