QUE: Describe Gujarati films based on Gujarati literature in detail with suitable examples.

Over the past several decades, Gujarati films have been made based on the works of various writers, which have played an important role in reflecting Gujarati literature.

• Gujarati films based on Gujarati literature:

• Just as Gujarati language literature began with the ancient poet Narsinh Mehta, similarly the foundation of the Gujarati film industry also began with the film named “Narsinh Mehta” released in the year 1932, that is, it began with literature. In this way, from then till date, about 50 such films have been made which are based on Gujarati literary works.
• The first landmark film based on a literary work in Gujarati cinema is ‘Kanku’. Kantilal Rathod made this film in the year 1969 based on the story named ‘Kanku’ by Pannalal Patel. ‘Kanku’ won the award for the best Gujarati film at the 17th National Film Awards (1970).
• However, before this, films had been made based on the names of literary works such as “Vevishal” written by Zaverchand Meghani, Pannalal Patel’s novel “Malela Jiv”, Chunilal Madiya’s ‘Liludi Dharti’, but the film “Kanku” proved to be a new turning point.
• In the following years, films started being made based on the works of renowned writers like Chunilal Shah, Manubhai Pancholi, Govardhanram Tripathi, Ishwar Patlikar, Harkisan Mehta.
• In the year 1979, Kanti Madiya made a film named “Kashino Deekro”, which was based on Vinodini Neelkanth’s story “Daryav Dil”. This film also proved to be a milestone for Gujarati cinema. However, this film could not do well, but people praised it a lot and it also received many awards.
• In the year 1980, Ketan Mehta made a film named “Bhavani Bhavai” based on Dhiruben Patel’s story ‘Achhootno Veesh’. This film, which spoke strongly on the issue of casteism, also gained fame at the national and international levels. The performances of actors including Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil made this film a classic.
• In the year 1993, a film of the same name was released based on Pannalal Patel’s novel “Manavini Bhavai”, which was also liked by the people. After that, in 1999, Sandeep Patel made a film named “Motina Chowk Re Sapnamaam Pedha” based on Varsha Adalja’s story ‘Mare Pan Ek Ghar Hoy’. The superhit pair of Hiten Kumar and Roma Manek acted in it and the film was a hit.
• After a gap of two decades, in 2018, a film named ‘Reva’ based on Dhruv Bhatt’s novel “Tattvamsi” was made, which received a lot of love from the audience.
• Apart from this, this same year, a film of the same name based on Jayant Khatri’s story “Dhaad” was released. The production of this film started in the year 2000 itself but was stopped due to some reasons. Apart from this, many films like Gandhi’s ‘Bakri’, ‘Nayakadevi’ etc. have been released which are based on literary works.
• Currently, films are being made on new topics and stories, different from the stereotypical subjects like three friends, college life, double meaning jokes etc., and people are also liking them.
• If we talk about the current month of February, last week a film named “Kamthaan” based on Ashwini Bhatt’s novel was released. This comedy film with actors like Hitu Kanodia, Darshan Jariwala, Sanjay Goradia is getting a good response, along with which we have got another excellent film based on a literary work.
• Along with this, “Lagan Special” has also been released, while films named “Kasumbo” and “Nasur” will be released by the end of February. In this way, all four films are based on completely different topics.
• In this way, films have been made based on literary works since the beginning of film production, which journey continues even today.

Thus, Gujarati films based on Gujarati literature have taken the rich heritage of Gujarati literature a step further from paper and shown it on the screen.