After Gujarati film Laalo, another regional film is weaving its magic at the box office. Marathi film Deool Band 2 is winning hearts and drawing audiences to theatres. Made on a reported budget of Rs 10 crore, the film has already grossed around Rs 40 crore within nine days of its release, emerging as the second biggest Marathi hit of the year after Raja Shivaji.Deool Band 2 crosses Rs 40 cr markAccording to industry tracker Sacnilk, Deool Band 2, the sequel to the 2015 film Deool Band, earned Rs 3.19 crore on its second Friday alone. The film was screened across 1,875 shows and recorded an occupancy of 32 percent. Currently released only in Marathi, the film has witnessed a sharp rise in demand since its opening week. The film’s total stands at Rs 40 crore as of 1 PM on Saturday, May 30.The Pravin Tarde directorial opened with 1,175 shows but saw an addition of more than 600 shows within days as word of mouth spread. The film collected Rs 5.90 crore on its first Sunday, signalling its growing popularity among audiences. It now stands just Rs 10 crore away from surpassing the lifetime collection of Nana Patekar-starrer Natsamrat (Rs 46 crore) and entering the list of the top five highest-grossing Marathi films of all time. Raja Shivaji currently occupies the top spot. It earned Rs 115.39 crore worldwide.Starring Snehal Tarde and veteran actor Mohan Joshi in lead roles, Deool Band 2 tackles the sensitive issue of farmer suicides while blending spirituality and social commentary. The film carried considerable anticipation as a sequel to Deool Band, which had received widespread appreciation upon its release in 2015.Makers released the film at Brahma MuhurtaIn a unique move, the makers premiered the film during Brahma Muhurta at 5:30 am. According to Loksatta, the early-morning screenings witnessed packed theatres, setting the tone for its impressive theatrical run. Since then, the film has been running across more than 500 theatres with over 1,800 shows daily. The film’s writer-director, Pravin Tarde, also expressed his delight over the overwhelming response on his Instagram handle, with the film continuing to run to packed houses across Maharashtra.ALSO READ | Rumours of cheating on ex-wife Samantha push Naga Chaitanya to court: ‘This is trolling’‘Pravin Tarde made us shoot for 33 hours straight’The film’s cast has also shared anecdotes about director Pravin Tarde’s intense dedication during production. Speaking in an interview with Rajshri Marathi, actor Mohan Joshi revealed that the team once shot for 33 hours continuously because the director lost track of time as he was so engrossed in his work.Story continues below this ad“None of us had the courage to tell him that we had been shooting for 33 hours,” Joshi recalled. “Finally, I went up to him and asked how much longer we were going to continue. He was shocked when he realised how much time had passed. Even after that, he took a couple of more shots before wrapping up.”Pravin Tarde’s wife and actor Snehal Tarde echoed the sentiment, explaining that the indoor shoot environment made it difficult to keep track of time. “The lighting setup remained the same, so nobody really knew what was happening outside. Pravin was completely immersed in the work, and honestly, everyone was a little intimidated by him. No one wanted to interrupt him,” she said.‘Villagers were picked as junior artistes’She also revealed a humorous incident from the set. “We had hired villagers as junior artistes, but after several hours many of them left to attend to their own work. Pravin then made some of the drivers and his friends on set change into junior artistes’ costumes and appear in the scenes.”“Everyone kept asking me to tell him how long we had been shooting, but I was too scared to interrupt him. Eventually, Manoj Joshi gathered the courage to break the news. Pravin couldn’t believe we had already been working for 33 hours straight,” she added.Story continues below this adWith strong word-of-mouth, packed theatres, and growing collections, Deool Band 2 ca actually compete with Raja Shivaji to become the highest-grossing Marathi film.