De Dhakka is Zee Talkies, the only Marathi movie channel’s second venture after the success of Saade Maade Teen to release on May 16 throughout Maharashtra. Based in a rural background, it is about the new generation that knows no social or financial boundaries and will go to any extent to achieve their goals. “De Dhakka may sound like a comedy but the film is about cultural wars and humour comes out of situations only,” says Mahesh Manjrekar who has produced as well as written the story of the film that has been directed by his brother Sudesh Manjrekar and Atul Kale.

The cast of the film comprises Makrand Anaspure, Shivaji Satam, Medha Chapekar, Siddarth Jadhav, Saksham Kulkarni and Gauri Vaidya. Even before its release, the film has already bagged two Maharashtra State awards for Best Supporting Actor - Siddarth Jadhav and Best Singer - Aarti Ankalikar.

2005 saw the release of Maatichya Chuli, which was Sudesh’s debut as a director and produced by Mahesh. “It was a big success and that got us thinking. Marathi films are seeing some good days now and we thought it was the right time to cash in on it,” says Mahesh who has great expectations from the film as “it has shaped up very well technically and it is on par with any Hindi film. It has been shot very well giving it a feel of an Hindi film,” he says adding that the shooting was completed in a span of one month in Bhor to give it a village feel. Moreover, he feels, with the advent of multiplexes the future of Marathi cinema is bright.

Next Mahesh has plans to direct a bi-lingual (Marathi and Hindi) for which he has already registered two titles - City Of Gold and City Of Hope- - of which his heart is on the former. It shall be based on where Mumbai is heading today. He plans to begin shooting in June as he wants to catch the monsoon. VJ Ranvijay might be starring in it along with some Marathi stage artistes. He plans to shoot both the versions simultaneously. And after the rains, there are plans to make Mee Shivajiraje Bhonsale Boltoye. “I have to grow a beard for this which will take two months at least,” he smiles, adding that in the film people are feeling disgusted about being Maharashtrians after certain events that occur and when Chhatrapati Shivaji gets to know of it, he comes to Raigad and what follows next is what the film is about. He is playing Shivaji in it.

“But now I am moving back to where I belong,” says Mahesh about getting back to direction. “I want to concentrate on making films now as acting took most of my creative time. It was a good break and I enjoyed it as long as it lasted, but the director in me was getting restless. Now I don’t want to mix the two.”

Coming back to his acting, after playing a gangster in Okkadunadu, Mahesh is doing another Telugu film. JD Chakravarthi is acting and directing a film titled Homam that has Jagapathi Babu in the main lead. For Mahesh, doing an alien language film was tough but “I was fascinated with their discipline and their way of emphasizing certain words in their dialogue.”