Dhollywood gears up for an action packed start to 2019

The year 2018 ended on a quiet note for Dhollywood, with hardly any big releases in November and December. However, the industry is all set to turn the tables in 2019, and how! Both January and February have a number of Gujarati films lined up for release, and the variety-from romance, drama and perennial favourite comedy to even sci-fi, is likely to leave the viewers spoilt for choice.And it’s not just big-budget D-Town flicks that will try to woo the audiences, a lot of small budget, content-driven movies are also all set to try their luck at the BO in the coming few weeks. Some of the films that are slotted for release in January and February include 'Short Circuit', 'Order Order Out Of Order', 'Lapet, Have Thashe…. Baap Re!', 'Saheb', 'Chaal Jeevi Laiye', 'Tu Chhe Ne!', 'Fakebook Dhamaal' and 'My Dear Babuchak'.
NO BIG B-TOWN RELEASES HAS COME AS A BLESSING
In the last few months, Gujarati films have really struggled to get a good number of screens or prime time shows thanks to big Bollywood films, which even forced a few makers to postpone their release dates. However, that isn’t going to be the case till February, which has given D-Town an opportunity to make it count. As director Faisal Hashmi shares, “My movie has been ready for a while now. But during major festivals, we have a lot of Bollywood releases and Gujarati movies don’t get a good number of screens or prime time shows. Hence, I decided to release it in January.” Agrees director Dhwani Gautam, “January and February do not have any big banner Hindi releases. So, this period looks apt for releasing a Gujarati movie.”
LONG WEEKENDS FOR COLLEGIANS WILL BENEFIT D-TOWN
Most campuses will have long weekends around Uttarayan and Republic Day, while February will see collegians having preparation leave ahead of their exams. So, the young crowd will have enough time to catch up on the latest Gujarati flicks, something that the filmmakers are eager to make the most of. Shyam Nair, lead actor of 'Tu Chhe Ne!' says, “For Gujarati cinema, collegians are the major target audiences. Most campuses won’t have very important sessions, or will have festive weekends, which means that a lot of collegians will prefer to have fun by hanging out with their friends and going for a movie together. They eagerly look forward to such fun experiences before the hectic academic routine hits them. So, if there are some interesting Gujarati movies, collegians would sure head for those.”

SOME D-TOWNERS HAD PLANNED IT WELL IN ADVANCE
While a lot of filmmakers opted to push back their release dates, there are others who always wanted to release their films in January or February. As Malhar Thakar shares, “I avoided Janua ry due to some good Hindi releases and February was always in our plans, as it doesn’t have big releases. Also, we wanted to avoid March, since it will be exam time for schools and colleges. Hence, we worked out the deadlines to ensure that we release our film in February.” Even Nirav Barot says, “I was planning for a November 2018 release but decided to push it back, as I wouldn’t have got a good number of screens because of B-Town releases. Besides, I had to rework on my movie’s draft. I opted for online edit, but wasn’t happy with the final product. Since I was stuck with editing and other post production tasks, I decided to push back the release date.”
With so many movies gearing up for release, it’s going to be two months of tremendous entertainment for lovers of Gujarati cinema. As for the BO results, we will wait and watch!