Digi's Blog

It has been almost one and a half years now. I still remember the date. It was Valentine’s Day. After trying to contact them for several months, they had finally agreed. As I make way towards my destination, I get goosebumps. And then I finally reach their studio. The first thing I do when I reach their studio is ask them, “Can I put my phone in charging please?” They smile and say yes. It is not every day that you get to meet one of your favorite composers, singers, lyricists. But that day was very special. Jigar Saraiya and Priya Saraiya make such a cute couple. We talk about their upbringing, how they came into the music industry. They ask me how come a doctor like me is so much into music and movies. Then they show me their recording room, and I was like “WOW”. I still remember that big Apple monitor. So this is where all the beautiful music comes from. 18 months later, as I listen to “Wrong Side Raju”, I again remember that room and wonder, “So this i...

“Change” is a word that carries a lot of weight. It is a movement which takes a lot of time. 5 years ago, Cineman productions brought one such change in the Gujarati film industry. Actually, they rediscovered the film industry.  First came the witty “Kevi Rite Jaish” and then came the blockbuster “Bey Yaar”. And all of a sudden, as if all the doors of a dam were opened, there arrived a flood of films – ranging from downright horrible to just about average. Every film would proclaim itself to be “An Urban Gujarati film” and would ultimately be filled with mediocrity. “Wrong Side Raju” brings an end to this mediocrity. As I walk down the steps of the theatre after watching the movie, I am filled with satisfaction and pride that we are slowly but surely getting there. PLOT The film has a strong storyline, loosely based on the infamous hit and run case of Ahmedabad of 2013. Raju Bambani is a driver cum bootlegger who unfortunately gets involved in a hit an...

It is a golden period for the gujarati film industry. Yes I prefer to call it that instead of the horrible names “DHOLLYWOOD” and “GOLLYWOOD”. Is it mandatory to copy everything from the United States? Coming back, the Gujarati film industry is witnessing a phase like never before. It all started with the “Chetan Bhagat of the Gujarati Film industry”, i.e Abhishek Jain. His 2 films opened a door of vast opportunities and soon everyone followed suit. The latest offering is Kirtan Patel’s “Bas Ek Chance”. Now this is a special film because apart from it being a gujarati film, it is also the first mainstream film to be almost entirely shot in my city Vadodara. Let us have a look at the music of the film which has been composed by Pranav – Nikhil – Shailesh.     “ LAAGI RE LAGAN ” starts off with soft guitar riffs and a lovely female chorus which reminds you remotely of “Jab se tere naina”. Aishwarya Majumdar  takes the reins from there on. Along ...

The gujarati film industry has never been something about which we could talk proudly to the rest of Indian regional cinema. For an outsider and even for a gujarati, a gujarati movie inevitably meant a film with the actors in traditional costumes, with garbas and heavy dialogues. But things changed few years back when Abhishek Jain gifted us with “KEVI RITE JAISH”, a movie which revolutionarized the Gujarati film industry. It was the first gujarati movie which was “Normal” meaning that something with which we could identify. It featured normal gujarati urban people speaking normal gujarati, with no over the top melodrama. In short, it was a film which the entire gujarati clan loved. So it was no wonder that I had a lot of hopes from Jain’s next movie “BE YAAR”. And with the movie having released in only a single show in the entire big city of Rajkot (Which is a shame on part of the Rajkot cinema owners), I made it a point to go to the first show on the first day. PLOT...