Guys next door rule in Gujarati cinema

With over 100 movies in the pipeline, the Gujarati movie industry is currently at its sizzling best! From glamorous music launches, glittering premiers to foot-tapping music, all this have helped the filmmakers and actors in creating the buzz. Many recent movies have wooed viewers, thanks to powerful direction, gripping story lines and great casting. And when we talk of characters played by the lead actors, can you think of what’s common among Chako (Divyang Thakkar) of Bey Yaar, Bakul (

Jimmit Trivedi

) of Gujjubhai The Great, Rahul (Tushar Sadhu) of Romeo & Radhika, Raju (Pratik Gandhi) in Wrong Side Raju, Pranav (Malhar Thakar) of Thai Jashe! and Loy (Mitra Gadhvi) of Chhello Divas? Well, all of them have played the average guy-next-door with élan. So is it the portrayal of boys next door in Gujarati movies tug the hearts of the audience?

RELATABLE CHARACTERS ARE COOL
What do the actors playing guys next door feel? Divyang Thakkar shares, “To play a character which is simple and someone that audience think is one among them is something what I have loved doing. After Kevi Rite Jaish, a few elderly people shared that they felt that they could relate to me as their son/daughter who has shifted abroad.” Malhar Thakar adds, “I think people relate to me as I carry the image of an ordinary Gujarati guy who has his own set of struggles as any common man. They feel a sense of victory when the character deals with tough situations.”

WHY NO LARGER THAN LIFE HEROES?
Unlike Bollywood, there are no larger than life heroes here. Actor Jimmit Trivedi says, “It is a small industry and it is tough for makers to recover their money. So, it will take some time to come up with films with Bollywood style masala, action, drama et al. There are hardly any broadcasting platforms for Gujarati movies except theater screens and getting the screens is also tough.” Filmmaker Dhwani Gautam adds, “I won’t agree that Gujarati films have no glamour. It is for filmmakers to push the boundaries and make high quality films. I try to create a relatable glamour that most are able to accept.” Seems like we may witness change soon with filmmakers set to create more glamour oriented movies or action genre.


CONTENT IS THE KING
To a great extent, simplicity of character works because of strong story-lines. As director Ishaan Randeria says, “We don’t necessarily need a glamourous lead actor to make the movie work because the strength of any regional movie is the story line. The more relatable the story and characters are, the stronger are the chances of acceptance from viewers. So far as glamour is concerned, Bollywood offers big time in majority blockbuster movies.” Point taken!