Actress Genelia D'Souza hopes that her husband Riteish Deshmukh's debut production Marathi movie "Balak Palak" helps in the growth of Marathi movies.

"We are hoping that the film touches a lot of people," the 25-year-old said here at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival, and added that they are hoping it opens the doors for Marathi cinema "because that's been Riteish's goal, you know, to let it grow".

Directed by Ravi Jadhav, "Balak Palak" was screened at the ongoing festival Saturday and is slated for nationwide release Nov 30.

Genelia hopes for a pan-Indian audience for Marathi films.

"I sometimes wish that we could get all of them to a national audience. I wish Marathi cinema only grows and that's one of the reasons why Riteish is doing a Marathi film next year and we hope to see a lot more Marathi films next year," she said.

Talking about the film, Genelia said it is about children coming of age.

"I know it's so difficult to ask your parents so many things sometimes and it's important that parents and children have that rapport which my film talks about."