MUMBAI: Close on the heels of a website www.marathitaraka.com launched two months ago, a biographical book – Marathi Taraka (female actors in Marathi cinema) was released by actor Madhuri Dixit Nene on 4 January.

The book is a comprehensive collection of biographies on the life and times of 125 Marathi actresses over seven decades in the Marathi film industry. It is based on the website that has the same database and was launched by Hindi film actor Amrita Rao. It has been compiled and edited by noted Marathi film maker Mahesh Tilekar.

The release of the book was supported by the launch of a new informative website on Marathi actors having domain name as www.marathinayak.com by Pritish Nandy. This website has detailed information on veteran actors since 1932 upto budding actors in the industry.

While all the Marathi actresses present at the function were felicitated by Madhuri Dixit, Pritish Nandy felicitated the male actors. Madhuri was thankful for being associated with this rich Marathi regional endeavour. She said, “I have always loved and cherished Marathi Bhav Geet (devotional songs). I have even logged on to the website and am impressed with the vast collection of data. This book too will be helpful to understand Marathi cinema.”

When asked whether she would like to be associated with Marathi films now that she is making a return to acting, Madhuri said, “If I get a good script that inspires me, then I will definitely want to work in Marathi films too.”