The well known Hindi song Tu Kitni Achhi Hain from the film Raja Aur Runk features Kothare as Master Mahesh.

[3] Considered a revolutionary figure in the Marathi film industry, he began his directorial career with the groundbreaking Dhoom Dhadaka (1985) and has since delivered many box office hits over a period of 20 years.

He later switched to Marathi cinema, where he worked with well known stars and directors while continuing to make Hindi films without any noteworthy success.

Both films became box office hits, but Dhum Dhadaka became a trendsetter which brought young audiences to recognize the Marathi style of movie-making.

The film was the sequel to his 1993 box office hit Zapatlela, which has acquired a cult following amongst Marathi audiences and features a doll named Tatya Vinchu created by Ventriloquist and Puppeteer Ramdas Padhye and voiced by Dilip Prabhavalkar that comes to life.

Kothare revived Tatya Vinchu with 3D, animatronics and state of the art CGI in the sequel Zapatlela 2, which was the first Marathi film shot in 3D using split beam technology produced by Spanish stereographer Enrique Criado.