Kathiawar is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about 61,000 km2 (23,500 sq mi) bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat in the east. In the northeast, it is connected to the rest of Gujarat and borders on the low, fertile hinterland of Ahmedabad. It is crossed by two belts of hill country and is drained radially by nine rivers which have little natural flow aside from in monsoon months, thus dams have been built on some of these. Kathiawar ports have been flourishing centres of trade and commerce since at least the 16th century.
The history of Gujarat began with Stone Age settlements followed by Chalcolithic and Bronze Age settlements like Indus Valley civilisation. Gujarat's coastal cities, chiefly Bharuch, served as ports and trading centers in the Nanda, Maurya, Satavahana and Gupta empires as well as during the Western Kshatrapas period. After the fall of the Gupta empire in the 6th century, Gujarat flourished as an independent Hindu-Buddhist state. The Maitraka dynasty, descended from a Gupta general, ruled from the 6th to the 8th centuries from their capital at Vallabhi, although they were ruled briefly by Harsha during the 7th century. The Arab rulers of Sindh sacked Vallabhi in 770, bringing the Maitraka dynasty to an end. The Gurjara-Pratihara Empire ruled Gujarat after from the 8th to 10th centuries. While the region also came under the control of the Rashtrakuta Empire. In 775 the first Parsi (Zoroastrian) refugees arrived in Gujarat from Greater Iran.
The Gujarati people or Gujaratis, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who reside in or can trace their ancestry or heritage to the present-day western Indian state of Gujarat. They primarily speak Gujarati, an Indo-Aryan language. While Gujaratis mainly inhabit Gujarat, they have a diaspora worldwide. Many notable independence activists were Gujarati, including Gandhi, Patel, and Jinnah.
Kevi Rite Jaish is a 2012 Indian Gujarati-language drama film directed by Abhishek Jain and produced by Nayan Jain. The film is a satire on the fascination and obsession of the Patels' – a Gujarati farmer community – migration to the U.S. Over the last half century, thousands of Patels have migrated to the US and have come to dominate its motel industry. The film stars Divyang Thakkar, Veronica Kalpana-Gautam, Tejal Panchasara, Kenneth Desai, and Anang Desai. The success of the film started a "new wave" in Gujarati cinema.
Veer Hamirji - Somnath ni Sakhate is a Gujarati film released on 25 May 2012. The film did not perform well at the Gujarati box office as it stayed in the cinema for just one week. However, it was shortlisted for Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film(but lost to Barfi!), making it the first ever Gujarati film to do so. Following the shortlisting, the movie was rescheduled for a release in India, as well as in the United States in December 2012.
Mahagujarat movement, known as Mahagujarat Andolan locally, was a political movement demanding the creation of the state of Gujarat for Gujarati-speaking people from the bilingual Bombay state of India in 1956. It succeeded in the formation of Gujarat, on 1 May 1960.
Romance Complicated is a 2016 Indian Gujarati language romantic comedy film directed by Dhwani Gautam and produced by Kirti Premraaj Jain, Nishit Jain & Rajiv Sharma. It stars Malhar Pandya and Divya Misra make their debut as leads in this Gujarati film.
Malhar Pandya is an Indian actor.
Thai Jashe! is a 2016 Indian Gujarati film written and directed by Nirav Barot. It is about the struggles of a middle class man to achieve his goals in the metrocity Ahmedabad. The film stars Manoj Joshi, Malhar Thakar, and Monal Gajjar. The film was released on 3 June 2016.
Carry On Kesar is an Indian Gujarati social comedy film directed by Vipul Mehta. It is a socially relevant film that talks of a traditional elderly childless couple deciding to have a baby. It is a debut Gujarati film of actress Supriya Pathak Kapur. The cast includes Darshan Jariwala, Avani Modi and Rittesh Mobh in the lead roles.
Aarohi Patel is an Indian actress who acts in Gujarati films. After making her acting debut as a child artist in Saandeep Patel's Moti Na Chowk Re Sapna Ma Ditha, she played her first leading role in Vijaygiri Bava's drama film Premji: Rise of a Warrior, which won 10 prominent Gujarat State Awards, including Best Film. She is known for her roles in the films Love Ni Bhavai and Chaal Jeevi Laiye. She also bagged the 'Best Actress' Award at the 17th Annual Transmedia Gujarati Screen and Stage Awards-2017 and at Radio City Cine Awards-2017 for Love Ni Bhavai.
Love Ni Bhavai is a 2017 Gujarati romantic drama film directed by Sandeep Patel and produced by Aarti Patel. The background score and soundtrack were composed by Sachin–Jigar, with lyrics from Niren Bhatt.
Kutchi cinema refers to the Kutchi language film industry of Kutch, Gujarat. The Kutchi films Haarun Arun and Heda Hoda were international award-winning films based on Kutchi people living on the Indo-Pak border. The film The Good Road which was selected for the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards is set in Kutch and features Kutchi songs and language.
Ventilator is a 2018 Indian Gujarati comedy-drama film directed by Umang Vyas, and produced by Falguni Patel and Lawrence D'Souza. It is an adaption of 2016 Marathi film Ventilator written and directed by Rajesh Mapuskar and produced by Priyanka Chopra. It stars ensemble cast of Jackie Shroff, Pratik Gandhi, Pravinchandra Shukla, Mitra Gadhavi, Sanjay Goradia, Utkarsh Mazmudar, Mehul Buch, Suchita Trivedi, Tejal Vyas, Manan Desai, Krunal Pandit. It was released on 14 September 2018.
Hellaro is a 2019 Indian Gujarati period drama film co-written and directed by Abhishek Shah and produced by Ashish Patel, Nirav Patel, Aayush Patel, Prateek Gupta, Mit Jani and Abhishek Shah under the banner of Saarthi Productions and Harfanmaula films. The film having ensemble cast of Jayesh More, Shraddha Dangar, Brinda Trivedi Nayak, Shachi Joshi, Niilam Paanchal, Tejal Panchasara and Kausambi Bhatt, marks the directorial debut of Abhishek Shah. The film revolves around a group of women living in the Rann of Kutch in the 1970s.
Montu Ni Bittu is a 2019 Indian Gujarati-language comedy film directed by Vijaygiri Bava and produced by Twinkle Vijaygiri under the banner of Vijaygiri Filmos. The story was written by Prarthi Dholakia and Raam Mori. The film starring Maulik Nayak and Aarohi Patel is a story of childhood friends Montu and Bittu. It was released on 23 August 2019.
Vijaygiri Bava is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter who primarily works in Gujarati cinema.
Golkeri is a Gujarati comedy drama film directed by Viral Shah and produced by Manasi Parekh and Parthiv Gohil under banner of Soul Sutra Studio. It is written by Viral Shah and Amatya. The film starring Malhar Thakar and Manasi Parekh is a remake of 2017 Marathi film Muramba.
Abhishek Shah is an Indian filmmaker, writer, director and producer known from his work in Gujarati Films and Theatre. His movies and plays are revolved around significant social issues.
