A National Award, new genres, power-packed performances: D-Town ends 2019 on a high note

The year

2019

will always be remembered as a very special one for the

Gujarati film

industry as

Hellaro

became the first ever Gujarati film to win the National Award for Best Feature Film as well as its 13 actresses receiving a special Jury Award. This feat meant a whole new beginning for the Gujarati entertainment industry, but this was not the only first of 2019. This year,

Dhollywood

saw its first ever sci-fi drama Short Circuit, films like Gujarat 11 and Diya…The Wonder Girl introduced the sports genre to Gujarati audience.
The year started on a rather dull note so far as the BO collection of films earlier released is concerned. Only few films like Hellaro,

Chaal Jeevie Laiye

, Chasani, Dhunki did good business at the ticket window and despite many efforts, commercial success eluded most films. But the industry left no stone unturned to make the canvas of Gujarati films bigger, better and brighter.
From investing in new promotional strategies, a number of films releasing abroad to find a wider audience to roping in big Bollywood actors/singers and experimenting with newer, bolder and contemporary subjects, Dhollywood continued its hard work to take the industry to a new height. As the year ends, we bring you the highs and lows of Dhollywood in the year that went by:
AFTER A SLUGGISH FIRST HALF, D-TOWN ENDED 2019 ON A HIGH
Dhollywood had an average outing in the first half of 2019 with only Chaal Jeevi Laiye doing well at the BO. While a few films managed to create buzz , there was little to celebrate at the ticket window. Multi-starrers like Order Order Out Of Order and Lapet and star driven films like Malhar Thakar’s Saheb and Hiten Kumar starrer Jalsaghar managed average response from the audience. The much-anticipated Kiran Kumar starrer Have Thashe Baap Re got embroiled in a copyright controversy and never released. Lok Sabha elections, IPL, and board exams further added to the woes. But content finally emerged as the winner. “Nobody knows what works at the BO, what we can do is make good films and tell compelling stories. That way we can provide our audience content they would like to watch,” says filmmaker Vipul Mehta whose film Chaal Jeevi Laiye was amongst the highest grossing film in 2019.
But the industry picked up pace in the second half, especially November, which saw five back to back big budget films releasing including Hellaro. Films like Dhunki, Montu Ni Bittu, Gujarat 11 etc saw popular stars like Pratik Gandhi, Daisy Shah and Aarohi Patel lighting up the silver screen with their films.