Oscar nom, National Awards: Gujarati movies shine
Last year, in a proud moment for Gujarati cinema, Gandhi & Co. won the Golden Lotus (Best Children’s Film), Chhello Show took home the Best Gujarati Film award, and Bhavin Rabari won the Best Child Artist award (for Chhello Show) at the 69th National Film Awards. With D-Town flicks winning awards, getting noticed at prestigious film festivals (21mu Tiffin, for instance) and being remade in other languages, there is a positive buzz about the industry. Ahead of Gujarat Day (May 1), we take a look at some Gujarati films that have made headlines nationally and even globally.
Creating a buzz at the Oscars:
Chhello Show (2022): The National Award-winning film, directed by Pan Nalin, was India’s official entryfor Oscars 2023 and got shortlisted as well (Best International Feature Film category). Although the movie didn’t win eventually, it remains one of the proudest moments for Gujarati cinema. The film was screened in several countries and ran for more than 25 weeks at theatres in Japan!
The Good Road (2013): Written and directed by Gyan Correa, this National Award-winning movie was India’s official entry for the Oscars, but it did not make it to the shortlist.
Veer Hamirji-Somnath Ni Sakhate (2012): The film had just a one-week run at the theatres, but it was among the 17 films that were shortlisted for Indian submissions for Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Category. Eventually, it didn’t make the cut.
Filmmaker Pan Nalin says, “Without any big distributors or stars, it was not an easy journey and when Chhello Show was announced as India’s official entry to the Oscars, we were subjected to some terrible trolling. But after people saw the film, their opinion changed. It was a victory of simple, meaningful cinema. To have made it so far (Oscars shortlist) was really encouraging and the Oscar buzz helped ingenerating a lot of curiosity about the film.”
Oscar nom, National Awards: Gujarati movies shine
Hellaro creates history:
Hellaro (2019), directed by Abhishek Shah, created history by becoming the first Gujarati film to win the prestigious Best Feature Film Award at the 66th National Film Awards and set a high benchmark for Gujarati cinema. Abhishek Shah says, “The National Award for Hellaro was much more than just a personal achievement. I felt happy because it meant that Gujarati cinema would be recognised nationwide. People told us that we had created history and I felt humbled. In Hellaro, authenticity was like a central character and despite many challenges, every crew member worked really hard on the film. That created magic on the big screen.”
Gandhi & Co. shines at the National Awards:
The film, directed by Manish Saini,won the Golden Lotus (Best Children’s Film) at the 69th National Film Awards. Manish told us, “Winning the Golden Lotus was a big moment forGujarati cinema and aise recognition se honsla badhta hai, ki hum kuch sahi kar rahe hain.”
D-Town inspires remakes:
2024 has already seen two remakes of popular D-Town films. While Vash (2023) was remade in Hindi as Shaitaan, Chaal Jeevi Laiye! (2019) was remade in Marathi as Ole Aale. Vipul Mehta, writer-director of both Chaal Jeevi Laiye! and Ole Aale, says, “Chaal Jeevi Laiye! had universal appeal and we felt that it can be remade in multiple languages. We might remake it in other languages too.” Before this, Oxygen (2018) was remade in Telugu (Entha Manchivaadavuraa), while Chhello Divas (2015) was remade in Hindi (Days of Tafree).
Did You Know?
Bhavni Bhavai (1980), directed by Ketan Mehta, won the National Award for the Best Feature Film on National Integration. Meera Lakhia won the National Award for the Best Production Design for the same film.