1 week ago
Marathi Actor’s Film Dream Brings Heavy Financial Losses
Vijay Nikam had a regular job as a civil engineer and also loved acting.
He worked in theatre and later decided to make a film.
In 2014, he invested about Rs 1 crore of his own money.
The film earned back only about Rs 15 lakh.
Because of this, he used savings and sold a farm and some family jewellery.
His family had very little money left and still had debt.
Nikam says he did not understand filmmaking and film business well enough at the time.
He now warns people to learn how they will recover their money before producing a film.
Vijay Nikam worked as a municipal corporation civil engineer until age 55 while pursuing acting and theatre.
He invested about Rs 1 crore in film production in 2014 but recovered only around Rs 15 lakh.
The losses led him to use provident fund savings and sell a farm and family jewellery.
Nikam said his family was left with about Rs 3 lakh while debt stood at roughly Rs 3.5 lakh.
He attributed the film’s failure to limited filmmaking experience, weak business understanding and insufficient financial advice.
- Who
- Veteran Marathi actor, playwright and director Vijay Nikam.
- What
- He discussed losing most of a roughly Rs 1 crore investment in a film project and the resulting financial crisis.
- Where
- When
- The investment was made in 2014; he discussed it in an interview reported on August 20, 2026.
- Why
- Nikam said the project suffered from his limited filmmaking experience, weak business understanding, inadequate financial advice and limited avenues for monetising films at the time.
Key facts
- Profession before full-time cinema
- Civil engineer with a municipal corporation until age 55
- Film investment
- Approximately Rs 1 crore in 2014
- Amount recovered
- Approximately Rs 15 lakh
- Estimated loss
- Roughly Rs 85 lakh
- Assets used
- Provident fund savings, a farm, and some of his mother’s and wife’s jewellery
- Family’s reported financial position
- About Rs 3 lakh remaining against approximately Rs 3.5 lakh in debt
- Film-business challenges cited
- Limited experience, weak financial planning, networking difficulties and fewer monetisation avenues
Quotes
Vijay Nikam
Marathi actor, playwright, and former municipal corporation civil engineer
“People should not enter film production simply because of the temptation or passion for cinema; you must understand how the money can be recovered.”
news18.com
“I came to zero financially, but I can now laugh about the experience, although it was extremely painful at the time.”
news18.com
Sources
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