This state is called the land of Saints . Saints like Namdev, Jnaneshwar, Tukaram, Gora Kumbhar and Sakkubai were born in this State. The Great Maratha King Shivaji and great men like Bheemrao Ambedkar, Gopalkrishna Gokhale, Bal Gangadhar Tilak hail from this state in India. Marathi is spoken in this state. Mumbai, the financial capital of India, is its capital.

Maharashtrian actors have strong background of stage whether they are TV actors or Film actors. The Marathi actors who are popular in Bollywood are Amol Palekar, Smitha Patil, Nutan, Tanuja, Kajol and Nana Patekar. The popular Bollywood female singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle are  Maharashtrian Sisters who have huge fan following across the globe. They are both trained in Hindusthani  Classical music as well. Their brother Hrudayanath Mangeshkar is a popular music director of Marathi movies. Marathi actors generally excel in dialogue delivery and voice modulation. Their acting  looks natural. The popular Bollywood Music Director C.Ramchandra is Maharashtrian.

The popular actors and actresses of Marathi stage , TV and Films are Vikram Gokhale, Dr.Sreeram Lagu, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Reema Lagu, Savitha Prabhune, Ashok Saraf, Lakshmikanth Berde, Sateesh Pulekar, Neelu Phule, Dr.Mohan Agashe, Atul Kulkarni, Sonali Kulkarni , Dr.Nishigandha Wad , Nivedita Joshi, Mohan Joshi, Sudhir Joshi etc. Ashok  Saraf, Lakshmikanth Berde, Sreeram Lagu, Vikram Gokhale, Dr.Nishigandha Wad and Reema Lagu acted in Bollywood as well. Popular Marathi actor Sayaji Shinde is a very popular character actor in Telugu Film Industry. He dubs his dialogues in Telugu. Further he is well known in Tamil Film Industry and also acted in Bollywood.

Excellent movies like Devrai, Jogwa, Harischarndrachi Factory, Kalath Na kalath, Choukat Raja, Swaash, Umbartha, Dombivali Fast are made in Marathi. They are worth seeing by non Marathi Speaking people either with sub titles or in the company of their Maharashtrian friends.

Watch a  melodious Marathi Abhang sung by the great Marathi stage and Film actor “Vishnu Pant Pagnis”.