Released three weeks ago, Bindhaast, a variation of that untranslateable Mumbai slang bindaas, has been running to packed houses, matching wits with mega-budget Hindi films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and iHaseena Maan Jayegi

, in the process, giving a shot in the arm to the sagging fortunes of regional cinema.

This was done by lifting the technique and inspiration for this caper straight out of mainstream Hindi cinema. Bindhaast is an edge-of-the-seat thriller about two friends set against the backdrop of a girls' hostel. It's packed with fun and cheer, peppy dialogues, campus rivalries and celebrations -- enough masala to attract college-goers and family audiences alike.

And yet it is unconventional, in that, it has no hero! While itisn't a feminist statement by a long shot, the film boasts of an all-women cast -- something even established commercial film-makers have never done.

"This wasn't a deliberate ploy to make some kind of sensational statement. It's just that our story and screenplay is such that the absence of male characters doesn't rankle," says director Chandrakant Kulkarni.

A highly respected name in the world of Marathi theatre, Kulkarni has played a significant role in blurring the line between experimental and commercial theatre with intelligent and sensitive plays like Charchowghi, Dhyani-Mani, Doctor Tumhi Suddha and Gandhi Viruddh Gandhi over the last decade.

In his bid to make an equally impressive mark on cinema, he joined forces with his friend Machhindra Chate who runs one of the biggest coaching classes in the state. While Kulkarni worked out a credible, commercially viable script, Chate pulled all stops to ensure that the film didn't suffer for want of finances. While most Marathi film-makershave never even ventured out of the state, Kulkarni shot part of his film at the expensive Ramoji Rao studio in Hyderabad. "We didn't want to make the film lavish just for the sake of splurging money. But whatever the script needed was done in style," he says. As a result, it's production cost was about four times the average Marathi film.

Of the Rs 1.75 crore (approx.) spent on the film, Rs one crore was reserved for advertising and media promotions alone. To begin with, two weeks before the release, Chate inserted an advertorial in 25 newspapers across Mumbai analysing the failure of Marathi films. This was done for indirect build-up -- without even mentioning Bindhaast. "While posters and television promos are the traditional vehicles for publicity, Chate believes in the power of the print media -- so we focussed on advertising in newspapers across the state, including Marathi, English, Gujarati and even Tamil publications! We wanted to attract every kind of Marathi and non-Marathi audienceextending from the masses to the classes," he says.

This was supplemented with 250 hoardings all across Mumbai and endless television promos. Such was the extent of this publicity drive that Chate actually inserted his film's ad as a commercial break in the Marathi news telecast!

Moreover, the film opened at an unprecedented 25 theatres across Maharashtra, 14 of them in Mumbai alone. Aided by a tax-free certificate, Bindhaast registered 65 per cent collections in the first week, rose to 80 per cent in the second and already has 100 per cent bookings in the third week. "I guess all my film shows is if you have a method, there's no dearth of audiences. At the same time, if you lavish money on your film and forget about the story, you cannot blame people for turning their backs on you," he says.

Mahesh Kothare, a well-known Marathi film-maker believes Bindhaast could well be the turning point for Marathi films. He too is working on a new project and plans to chalk out innovative techniques tomarket his film. "Many good films have gone unnoticed simply because they weren't publicised in the right manner. We are living in the age of information technology and media promotions -- and we have to compete with far more expensive Hindi films. Something like this had to happen to change our way of thinking, and I'm glad it has worked out fine," he says.