famous film producer Nagraji Manjule Sairat, the 2016 National Award-winning romantic tragedy starring Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar, elevated the status of Marathi cinema. The film went on to become the highest-grossing Marathi film of all time, a record that stood for nearly a decade until it was surpassed by Raja Shivaji earlier this year. Sairat was also remade as Hindi ‘Dhadak’ (2018), marking Janhvi Kapoor’s big screen debut. Last year, the franchise launched Dhadak 2 starring Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri.Recently, while promoting his recently released acting venture ‘Frame’, Nagraj Manjule spoke to SCREEN about the success of ‘Sairat’ and whether he has any plans to make ‘Sairat 2’ after the release of ‘Dhadak 2’.
Nagraj Manjule on ‘Sairat’s Success’
During the conversation, Nagraj Manjule revealed that he wrote the story of Sairat with the simplest vision. Manjule said, “I never saw it as a challenge. I expressed what I wanted to express in the film. When I wrote Sairat, I was thinking that the world where we see people falling in love in movies is very different from the real world. In real life, we face challenges when we fall in love. I didn’t need to dramatize it, so I kept it as it is. We always think love stories end happily and happily; we don’t see the problems, so my vision was to show that. “Talking about the film’s success, the filmmaker said: “I never thought Serat would be adapted in Bollywood. We just make our film and we don’t think about how many people will like it or whether it will be remade.”
Will Nagraj Manjule produce Sairat 2?
Last year, Dharma Productions expanded the Dhadak franchise with a sequel. When asked if this prompted him to consider making Sairat 2, Nagraj Manjule said, “Sairat 2 does not need to be inspired by Dhadak 2 to make it. If there was a story, Sairat 2 would be made. I feel like the story is complete on its own, but sometimes when people like a movie, they want to see what happens further in it. A lot of people still ask me when I’m going to make the sequel to Vandrie. After Sairat came out, people forgot about it. But now they keep asking me about Sairat 2. I felt like it was a world that could be talked about, but I didn’t think about it. “
Nagraj Manjule on the rise of Marathi cinema
Nagraj also spoke about the development of Marathi cinema, reflecting on how the differences between mainstream and regional cinema have evolved. his “Frame” co-stars Amy Wagg pointed out that Marathi cinema had scored seven hit films in the first six months of 2026, adding that Serat “opened a door to a room full of treasures”.Sharing the development history of Marathi cinema, Nagraj said, “The box office revenue of ‘Raja Shivaji’ and ‘Deool Band 2’ has crossed Rs 100 crore. Several other films have grossed around Rs 300-400 million.“
More information about Nagraj Manjule’s film Frame
On the work front, Nagraj Manjule will next be seen in Vikram Patwardhan’s directorial Frame. The film, also starring Amy Waugh, follows the lives of two photojournalists who reach a crossroads in their lives, torn between their humanity and their professional responsibilities. The film releases on Zee5 on July 10.
