[1] Dramatic Prakrits are important for the study of the development of Indo-Aryan languages, because their usage in plays and literature is always accompanied by a translation in Sanskrit.
These include Prācya, Bahliki, Dakshinatya (spoken in modern-day states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra), Sakari, Candali, Sabari, Abhiri, Dramili Prakrit, and Odri.
Characters each spoke a different Prakrit based on their role and background; for example, Dramili was the language of "forest-dwellers", Shauraseni was spoken by "the heroine and her female friends", and Avanti was spoken by "cheats and rogues".
[3] The prakrits varied in intelligibility with Maharashtri being most similar to classical Sanskrit[4] while Magadhi Prakrit being most similar to classical Pali.
The new grammar stuck, which leads to the unique flexibility of vowels lengths, amongst other anomalies, in Marathi.