A poster of the film Yellow.
A number of Marathi and Malayalam films, including this year's National Award winning Yellow and North 24 Kaatham, are leading the Indian Panorama section at this year's International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
Scheduled to take place in Goa from next month, the list of regional films at the Indian Panorama section boasts an interesting mix of movies from Malayalam film industry, including Abrid Shine's 1983, romantic thriller Njan Steve Lopez and Drishyam, among others.
For the first time Marathi cinema is giving stiff competition to its Southern counterpart with an eclectic mix of films ranging from the biopic of Prakash Amte and his wife Manda titled Dr Prakash Baba Amte-The Real Hero to corruption drama A Rainy Day and children's tale Kila to critically acclaimed Yellow.
"The year the films are from diverse segments in the Indian Panorama section. Generally people say that Bollywood gets prominent, but Marathi and south Indian films are part of this year's Indian panorama," Vani Tripathi, steering committee member of IFFI, told PTI.
Paresh Mokashi's second Marathi film,
Elizabeth Ekadashi, has been chosen as the opening film of the 10-day long film extravaganza. His much-acclaimed debut
Harishchandrachi Factory was India's official entry to 2009 Oscars in Best Film in Foreign Language category.
The jury, which is headed by renowned filmmaker from Odisha A K Bir, also includes five Bengali and two Hindi films besides one film each in Assamese, Kannada, Khasi, Odia and Tamil.