Name: Hariyani Vaidehi C.
Roll no- 18
Year - 2015-17
M.A Semester - 4
Paper no.(15) Mass Media Studies
Email Id: - vaidehi09hariyani@gmail.com
Unit - 3 Cinema
Assignment topic:
Renaissance in Gujarati Cinema
Submitted to:
Smt.S.B.Gardi
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH,
MAHARAJA KRISHNAKUMARSINHJI BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY,
Cinema plays a vital role in society. From young
to old, from rich to poor, from rural to urban all the people love to watch movies.
Cinema take us to places which may be we can never visit and inside the life of
people somewhat different from ourselves. They offer us a space to see the
wider world, lengthening our viewpoint and opening our eyes to new surprises.
The cinema of India has had a deep effect on
Cinema across the world since the early 20th Century. It contains of
films created in India, which includes the filmmaking cultures of different
states like Marathi, Hindi, Assam, Gujarat and many.
In this assignment we will try to see the journey
of Gujarati Cinema in detail.
The Gujarati Cinema (Dhollywood) has produced more
than thousands of films from its beginning. The journey of this cinema started
84 years ago.
Let’s have a look at the beginning of this Cinema.
Beginning:-
The film industry of Gujarat began in 1932. The
first Gujarati Movie “Narsinh Mehta” was
directed by Nanubhai Vakil. The film
was matchless. Then came “Sati Savitri”
based on the epic story of Savitri and Stayavan which was followed by “Ghar Jamai” by Homi Master.
Gujarati films thus proceeded with several other
important social, political as well as religious issues. The years 1948, 1950,
1968, 1971 moved in a wide variety of dimensions. The Gujarati Movies such as “Kariyavar” by Chaturbhuj Doshi, “Vadilono
Vank” by Ramchandra Thakur, “Gadano
Bel” by Ratibhai Punatar and “Leeludi Dharti” brought immense success
to industry. The problems of modernisation were the underlying concern of
several films. Movies like “Gandano Bel”
had strong realism and reformism.
“Bhavni
Bhavai” (1980), directed by Ketan Mehta, was produced by NFDC, the Sanchar Film Cooperative
Society, and a district bank in Ahmedabad. Though the film was not a folk
theatre form of Bhavai, it incorporated several elements of it.
As it is said that,
“Good
time flies away quickly”
With the immense amount of success, Gujarati
Cinema also had a period of decline.
Decline:-
The Gujarat Film Development Corporation (GFDC)
established to promotion Gujarati films was closed in 1998. The quality of
the films deteriorated due to the focus on improving the financial investments
and profits as well as not acclimatizing to changing times, technology and
demographics. Low budget films with bargained quality targeted rural audiences
while urban audiences motivated to television and Bollywood films with quality
content as they had a reasonable understanding of the Hindi language.
People started enjoying the Hindi films more over
Gujarati films. It was a tough time for the Gujarati Cinema to survive.
Renaissance
in Dhollywood:-
“If
something good fades away, something better is on the way.”
There was an increase in the number of film
productions after 2005 due to the tax exemption and the rise in demand for films
in rural North Gujarat. The demand was fired by the working class population.
The number of films produced per year was over sixty in 2009 and 2010. The
number of films produced reached seventy-two in 2012, the most in the history
of Gujarati cinema.
Time goes on and the things have changed now.
Gujarati cinema has changed peoples’ attitude. People get fascinated by the
enhancement of the Gujarati cinema in the film industry. Even the youngsters of
Gujarat started watching Gujarati films.
Especially the rise of Gujarati Cinema after the
films like “Bey Yaar” and “Better Half” is worth noting.
“Kevi
Rite Jaish” (2012) and “Bey Yaar” (2014), both directed by Abhishek Jain, became commercially and critically successful
drawing an urban audience.
“Kevi
Rite Jaish” is a satire on the fascination and
obsession of the Patels' - a Gujarati farmer community - immigration to the
U.S. Over the last half century, thousands of Patels have travelled to the
U.S.A and have come to control its motel industry.
“Bey
Yaar” was the most celebrated film in whole film
industry.
Jay
Vasavada called it, "Brilliant, Brave, Bright".
The film was screened at New
York Indian Film Festival on 5 May 2015 and became the first ever Gujarati film
to do so. This film almost broke the record of Gujarati Cinema.
“The
Good Road” (2013), directed by Gyan Correa, earned the Best Gujarati film at the 60th National
Film Awards and later became the first Gujarati film ever selected to represent
India at the Oscars.
The
success of these urban films drew new actors, directors and producers to the
Gujarati film industry which had been stunted for a long time. Digital
technology and social media helped the film industry by expanding its reach. “Gujjubhai The Great” and “Chhello Divas” were commercially
successful films of 2015. The box office collection of Gujarati films increased
a lot.
“Chhello
Divas” is a comedy Gujarati film written and directed by
Krishnadev Yagnik. The film revolves
around the lives of eight friends in the last year of college. This film was
immensely popular among the young crowd. People watched this film over and over
again.
“Carry
On Kesar” is an Indian Gujarati social comedy film directed
by Vipul Mehta. It is a socially
relevant film that talks of a traditional elderly childless couple deciding to
have a baby. Shyamji
and Kesar Patel, a traditional Gujarati elderly childless couple live in a
small town in Gujarat. A fashion designer based in Paris, Annie comes across
Kesar’s artistic work and makes arrangement to learn the art from her. However,
things don't go as planned and a twist of fate prompts Kesar to confront her
past. The couple decides to have a child at an age where most couples are
grandparents.
This film brings in the reality of our society. In
Gujarat people are not that open to things like this. Such movie tries to bring
some changes in the society.
The scripts and stories of the Gujarati films
include relationship and family oriented subjects, as well as human aspirations
and Indian family culture. There were a large number of films based on
mythological narratives and folklore produced in the early years of Gujarti cinema.
The life of popular saints and satis of Gujarat were made into films such as
Narsinh Mehta and Gangasati. They were targeted at rural audiences familiar
with the subjects. There were social films associated with family life and
marriage such as Gunsundari and Kariyavar. Several Gujarati films were adapted
from Gujarati novels such as Kashi no Dikro. There was spurt again in the 1970s
for saint/sati films. In the early 2000s, films were targeted chiefly at rural
audiences demanding local narratives with local linguistic style. Following
2005, urban subjects were introduced leading to a revival of Gujarati cinema.
In recent times, films which are more relevant to audiences are being produced.
“Meghdhanushya”
(2013) was the first Gujarati film focused on the LGBT community. “Meghdhanushya”
(2013) is the first movie to positively feature the gay community in Indian
Gujarati cinema. It is directed by Dr K R
Devmani and produced by Mahendra Bhai
Patel, with narration by Manvendra Singh
Gohil and Sylvester Merchant.
This film portrays how lesbians and gay men have a
part in society, and shows their situations and conditions they experience. Not
only the films but the quality of music is also increased much with the time.
Conclusion:-
Renaissance means revival or rebirth. We can see
that this is renaissance period going on for Gujarati Cinema in India as well
as worldwide. The new generation is going at the epoch of success. We hope that
the dark ages never return in this field.
Reference:-
- Wikipedia contributors. "Cinema." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Dec. 2016. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
- Wikipedia contributors. "Cinema." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Dec. 2016. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
- Class Notes
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