I usually make separate film and music posts, but because I didn't write a ton about films and hardly wrote anything about music, I thought I'd combine the two. I'll start with music, since it's so brief. If you want more Gujarati culture, I also have a recommended reading post.
Music
I listened to Gujarati music the entire time I was in Ahmedabad, which was around 3 weeks. This folk album is outstanding! Here’s the Spotify link. Other than that, I generally enjoyed what I listened to, mostly old film songs, but nothing really stuck with me. I disliked the garba playlists I heard. I did like some of the modern folk fusion sort of stuff I heard, such as Aditya Gadhvi, but I ultimately prefer older sounds more.
I hadn’t realized Mor Bani Thanghat Kare from Ram Leela was based on an older song. Here’s the original, I think. More info here. I like the movie version more, but cool to hear this.
Film
I don’t have much to say about Gujarati films. I believe I’ve only seen one, a cult classic absurdist comedy called Hun Hunshi Hunshilal which… I don’t know if you have to speak Gujarati, or you had to be there, or you have to speak Gujarati and you had to be there, but as a non-Gujarati speaker and someone who wasn’t there, I don’t know, I found it tough to sit through (it was unique, lovingly crafted, and well photographed, though, I don’t want to knock it, and it had its moments). Once in Mumbai I went to see a Gujarati film called Wrong Side Raju which the newspapers said was playing with subtitles on all screens, but there were no subtitles at the INOX Metro cinema at Marine Lines, and the manager refused to give me my money back even though I showed him the advertisement. I never went back to that theater, nor did I go to a single INOX theater for the next six years. I'm still upset about this. That movie looked fun though.
I watched 20 or so trailers for Gujarati films to survey the scene and there were a handful that I thought looked pretty good, but none so good that I feel the need to mention them, though I hope to check many out one day and eventually update this. But it's not a great scene, which I don't think anyone would deny.
One indie film that stood out is Kayo Kayo Colour? which played at MAMI in 2023 and was shot on location in Ahmedabad's old city with non-actors (a film blogger I like named it his top film of 2023). With the exception of that and the documentary Amdavad Ma Famous, I’ve never heard anybody recommend or even discuss a Gujarati film, and it is hard to find reviews of them. I do think it’s funny that the two times India had a good shot at the Oscars in recent decades, it was a Gujarati film that was the spoiler (The Good Road and Last Film Show both look good though). I'm surprised I can't even find any Gujarati "parallel cinema" filmmakers who made Gujarati films. Ketan Mehta's debut Bhavni Bhavai was in Gujarati, but after that I think he only made Hindi movies.
I suppose if I had to pick out the biggest name Gujarati filmmaker today (one who actually makes Gujarati films), it would be Pan Nalin, but he's not a massive name and Last Film Show is I believe his only Gujarati film. Interestingly, Nalin grew up helping his father sell tea at a train station in Gujarat, just like India's prime minister. Apparently Gujarati train station tea stalls are some of India’s greatest launch pads to success. Malcolm Gladwell should write about this. Why send your kids to an Ivy League school when you could send them to Khijadiya Junction railway station to sell chai?
There are some Hindi films set in Gujarat that I recommend or have heard good things about. Kai Po Che comes to mind as a good one I've seen, I recommend that. I haven’t seen Firaaq, about the ‘02 riots, but it was well reviewed. I believe Raees is set in Ahmedabad, if not actually shot there, I want to see that. Ebert raved about Patang. Bhansali’s Ram Leela is set in a fictional over the top Gujarati village and is a good (the best?!) cinematic showcase of Gujarati culture.
I haven’t seen it yet, but the Hindi film Manthan is set in Gujarat, was financed by half a million farmers who each gave 2 rupees, and is a fictionalized telling of the founding of Amul. There’s a recent restoration and I look forward to watching it. Here’s a good article about it.
So the above paragraphs are my Gujarat watchlist. Any further recommendations would be appreciated.
Also, one of India’s top screenwriters Abhijat Joshi is from Ahmedabad and though none of his film work takes place there (at least that I recall), his breakthrough play A Shaft of Sunlight is set in Ahmedabad during the 1992 riots. A description says: “Set in present day Ahmedababd, this play explores the conflict that exists in a marriage between a Hindu and a Muslim against a backdrop of the explosive communal politics of India.” This play is what prompted Vidhu Vinod Chopra to hire him. I'd like to read it but it's listed as out of stock on Amazon. It appears the play still gets staged sometime. Some of his earlier plays were also set in Ahmedabad, including one about the closing of textile mills, though I didn't find any info about these other than some references in articles.
His brother Saumya Joshi is also a writer, and he stuck around doing Gujarati theater. According to Wikipedia, “He got critically acclaimed for his play Dost Chokkas Ahin Ek Nagar Vastu Hatu, a musical black comedy based on 2002 Gujarat riots.” Sounds interesting! I don’t think any of his plays were translated into English. There is some film stuff which you can find subtitled though. He wrote the dialogue and lyrics for Hellaro, which looks good, and his IMDb page says he wrote a Gujarati film from the 90s that I can’t find any info on. Other than that, he’s done some Hindi stuff, both originals and adaptations from his plays (I found OMG tough to sit through, but I’m not sure he was involved in the film at all, the others look better).
I found this interesting from the Gujarati Cinema wikipedia page:
”Following the Mahagujarat movement, the separate linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra were formed from the Bombay State on 1 May 1960. This had a great impact on the Gujarati film industry as Bombay, the centre of film production, fell in Maharashtra. There was a lack of major film production houses and studios in Gujarat resulting in a decline in the quality and number of films.
In the 1970s, the Government of Gujarat announced subsidies and tax exemptions for Gujarati films resulting in a spurt in film production. A studio was established in Vadodara in 1972. The state policy which benefited producers cost the state ₹8 crore (equivalent to ₹164 crore or US$20 million in 2023) in 1981–1982 for the thirty-nine films produced during that period. An entertainment tax exemption of ₹3 lakh (equivalent to ₹61 lakh or US$77,000 in 2023) was announced for producers who completed films. This policy resulted in an influx of people interested in monetary benefits who did not have any technical or artistic knowledge, thus the quality of films declined substantially.“
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