Digi's Blog

“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...

This is reason enough to celebrate- for the first time, a gujarati film is all set to promoted on a national level. The first time i saw the trailer of KRJ, I was impressed. Here was a gujarati film which looked fresh, urban and promising. Even more exciting was the news that suraj jagan was singing a "rock" song in gujarati in the film. And so with a lot of expectations, i downloaded all the soundtracks from the film's official website, somewhat stunned by the massive playback singers list. "KEVI RITE JAISH" starts of beautifuly and the soulful voice of roopkumar rathod only enhances the beauty of the song. A song which highlights the yearning of a person who is about to leave his family and go to u.s.a, jainesh panchal's lyrics are touching and simple. The song also has two more versions- a sad instrumental version where sandeep kulkarni impresses with the flute, and an unplugged version sung by aman lekhadia which is no doubt very good, but not as...