Directing films has been on his wish list for quite some time, said Riteish Deshmukh, who is happy about going behind the camera for the first time with the upcoming Marathi movie Ved.

The actor, known for the Housefull film series, Ek Villain and Marjaavaan, ventured into Marathi cinema as a producer with 2013’s Balak Palak and followed it up with Yellow.

“This (direction) is something I was attracted to for many years but didn’t have the courage to do it because I was acting. In the last three-four years I was trying to figure out this passion of mine. Even the film that I have directed — Ved — is something that worked out for me,” said Deshmukh, who has also starred in Marathi films Lai Bhaari and Mauli.

With Maharashtra also being home to Bollywood, the actor said Marathi films faced stiff competition from Hindi cinema. “It is tough for Marathi cinema to survive with Hindi cinema in the same state when the first preference is to watch Hindi over Marathi cinema. When Marathi movies become a second choice, their theatre share invariably goes down.”

Citing examples of critical Marathi hit films such as Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat and Natsamrat by Mahesh Manjrekar, the 43-year-old actor said the state needed at least two such movies every year to lure masses to theatres.

“The idea is how can we go from third to second option to being an equal option. We have to figure out how to attract (audiences). Maharashtra has 12 crore population. I believe nine to 10 crore will be Marathi-speaking audiences,” he also said.

“We are able to tap into that substantial base with very few films. Sairat did brilliantly. Lai Bhaari and Natsamrat reached the maximum audience. But we need more such films. We need two films every year,” he added.

Recently, Deshmukh made his digital debut with Plan A Plan B, co-starring Tamannaah Bhatia. Directed by Shashanka Ghosh of Veere Di Wedding fame and written by Rajat Arora, the film premiered on Netflix last month.