Chaal Jeevi Laiye Director On His Film Running For 1000 Days In Theatres: “DDLJ Was Running In Just One Cinema Hall, Meanwhile…” ( Photo Credit – Poster/Chaal Jeevi Laiye/Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge)
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Coconut Motion Pictures and Rashmin Majithia, producer of the Gujarati film, ‘Chaal Jeevi Laiye’, threw a Big Bash in Ahmedabad on 27th October as the film completed 1000 days in cinemas. It’s indeed a ‘Big Day’ for the whole Gujarati Film Industry. Cinestaan had exclusively reported that the makers of the beloved film ‘Chaal Jeevi Laiye’ which is the highest grosser Gujarati film, are planning to celebrate the historic feat achieved by the film.
The whole cast and crew attended the party and the atmosphere at the venue was palpable. The jeep, the raft, and the tyre swing played an important part in the film, these original props were kept at the venue and guests were thrilled to click pictures with them. Customized photos were handed over to the guests in the ‘Chaal Jeevi Laiye’ poster backdrop.
Music director duo Sachin-Jigar, who have made their mark in Bollywood as well, composed the songs in the film. They performed ‘Pa Pa Pagli’ and ‘Chaand Ne Kaho’ songs from the movie along with Jigardan Gadhavi, for the audiences which added enormous fun to the party.
This writer caught up with the key people from the film’s team and spoke to them about their experiences. Lead actor Siddharth Randeria, who is also the biggest Gujarati star, said that he had never imagined the film would run in theatres for 1000 days, “When we make a film, we are never sure how it’ll be received by the audiences and to see the way the film is running makes me very, very happy. I am very proud to be associated with this project.” When asked if he feels it’ll complete 2000 days in cinemas, he laughed and replied, “You never know, this movie has been very lucky.”
We caught up with the producer Rashmin Majithia to ask about the OTT release of ‘Chaal Jeevi Laiye’ as a lot of people on social media have indeed been demanding to know when it’ll make its presence on a streaming platform. To which Rashmin Majithia said, “This film has a larger life scale, grandeur, and even greater life emotions. Hence it’s a film to be seen on the big screen. So we’d like to encash on its theatrical run first. But definitely, we’ll have a digital release at some point.”
He also added that it’s a phenomenal feeling that the film has turned out to be a historic blockbuster, “We are fortunate that the entire team of Coconut has given its best, from the first day of recce to this 1000th day event. We faced a lot of hurdles but the end result turned out to be fabulous. Even today, we feel like it’s a brand new and recently released film as the audience continue to shower love. The film is running in 160+ shows, not just in Mumbai and Gujarat but also in Coimbatore, Jharkhand, Pune, etc. Basically, wherever Gujaratis are present, our film is running in those cities or towns! We had a great run even Overseas and the international distributors are requesting us once again to release the film! So now we are planning for it as well.”
Director Vipul Mehta exulted, “I am on cloud 9! I am proud and also teary-eyed. Basically, it’s a lot of emotions that I am going through right now. In the last 15 years, hardly any film has completed 100 days. But, our Gujarati film has completed 1000 days and is still running successfully in 160+ shows is commendable. DDLJ was running in just one cinema hall. Chaal Jeevi Laiye, meanwhile, is running in hundreds of theatres. Hence, it’s a phenomenal achievement. Yeh film Gujarati film ki dasha aur disha dono badlegi!”
The bubbly Aarohi Patel meanwhile stated, “It obviously feels very good. We went through a lot of difficult times while filming in Uttarakhand. So iska fal mil raha hai humein yeh dekh ke acha lag raha hai!” Her character was a rage among the little ones, especially the way she would exclaim ‘OMG’. When asked about this factor, she said, “Not just my ‘OMG’ dialogue but the kids also like the ‘Ghanu Jeevo’ song. The young girls especially enjoy it.”
The other male actor, Yash Soni, was quite humble as he said, “We never thought it’ll complete 1000 days. And right now, the whole team has reunited and it feels great”. When asked if it’ll complete 2000 days, he said, “I really wish and I really hope it does, looking at the way people are watching the film in large numbers.”
Finally, despite their extreme success, Sachin-Jigar were down to earth and more than happy to give their bytes. Sachin Sanghvi said, “We are two proud Gujaratis right now! We have been serving our mother language and also paying it back. The success we have today is because of the early inflection of the Gujarati folk and poetry in our lives. We had dreamed that Gujarati songs will someday become popular and that youngsters will sing Gujarati songs. But never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that we’ll be associated with a film that will complete 1000 days in theatres.”
Jigar said, “Hum log ab weekend waale ho gaye hai! We focus on whether koi film 3 din chal gayi ya 7 din chal gayi. But for a film to run for 1000 days is unbelievable. I feel very, very proud to be associated with this film. And I hope we can bring back the era of silver jubilee, golden jubilee, and platinum jubilee. ‘Chaal Jeevi Laiye’ hopefully has restarted this trend.”
Sachin added, “The idea was to make it a little friendly for the youngsters. That’s where it’ll get its shelf life. If the songs alienate our youngsters, toh fir toh baat hi nahi banegi. I just hope we continue to follow this idea and films like this keep getting made.”
Renowned artists from the Gujarati Entertainment Industry participated in the grand celebration. Malhar Thakar, Manoj Joshi, Parthiv Gohil, Manasi Parekh, Bhavya Gandhi, Sujata Mehta, writers Kaajal Oza Vaidya and Tushar Shukla, RJ Dhvanit, RJ Devki and many more were all present to enhance the joy of the party (REMOVE VANDANA PATHAK SHE WAS NOT THERE). Later, as guests made their way to the exit, they received a surprise gift in the form of a graphic book of the film. It contains the entire narrative of the film in comic book form. It served as a fitting finale to the memorable evening. With this, ‘Chaal Jeevi Laiye’ also becomes the 1st ever Gujarati film to be presented in the form of a comic book. This is again an extraordinary accomplishment by the film.
Through ‘Chaal Jeevi Laiye’ Gujarati Film Industry has grown incredibly and we are glad to be the engine of this astonishing growth. Being the flag bearers of the industry, Coconut Motion Pictures is now confident about the new upcoming movies from their production. Till then, we will meet you again in cinemas near you, really very soon.
