The trailer of Eetha will be launched today at Plaza Cinema, the historic single-screen theatre in Dadar, Central Mumbai. Senior journalist and film historian Dilip Thakur says the choice of venue reflects the film’s character and the theatre’s own history.
“If you do publicity of a film as per the film’s nature, it is more impressive,” Thakur said. He recalled that film promotions once meant showing songs to the media at Sumit Theatre and hosting parties at Sun n Sand, while today most trailer launches happen in multiplexes. Plaza, running since the 1930s, has “its own image and culture,” he noted.
A Maharashtrian film in a Maharashtrian hub
Eetha is rooted in Maharashtra and its Lavni and Tamasha folk traditions. The title character, played by Shraddha Kapoor, is Marathi, and Dadar is a hub for Maharashtrians. Thakur said this makes Plaza a natural fit and should give the film strong hype.
The strategy is not new for producer Dinesh Vijan’s Maddock Films, which launched the trailer of Chhaava at the same theatre. “It paid off well,” Thakur said, adding that Vijan “is repeating it with Eetha.”
The V. Shantaram legacy
Plaza once belonged to the V. Shantaram Trust, and the legendary filmmaker V. Shantaram released all his films there. Thakur recalled that Shantaram personally supervised the decorations at the theatre’s entrance whenever one of his films opened, standing on the footpath across the road to oversee the work.
The theatre has also hosted milestones of Marathi and Hindi cinema. Audiences watched actress Sandhya’s dancing glory there on the big screen in Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1955), Navrang (1959) and Pinjra (1972). Shantaram’s Marathi film Pinjra, released on March 31, 1972, ran for 50 weeks at Plaza and completed a Silver Jubilee in 15 other cities in Maharashtra.
“From an emotional angle, the theatre has the blessings of the greats of cinema,” Thakur said. He added that filmmakers of that era, such as Shantaram and Raj Kapoor, held their theatres close to their hearts, and that trailer launches like those of Chhaava and Eetha carry that tradition forward.
Eetha is directed by Laxman Utekar and produced by Maddock Films and Kathputli Creations. Eetha is inspired by the life of Lavni and Tamasha artist Vithabai Narayangaonkar. It stars Shraddha Kapoor in the title role, and Randeep Hooda and Nana Patekar among an ensemble cast. The film is slated for theatrical release on December 4, 2026.
