Surendranagar is an administrative district in Saurashtra region of Gujarat state in India. It has a population of approximately 1.7 million people. Surendranagar, along with the twin city of Wadhwan, has a total of 400,000 inhabitants, and is known as "Camp".
The history of Gujarati literature may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, other than its composers.
Jhaverchand or Zaverchand Kalidas Meghani was an Indian poet, writer, social reformer and freedom fighter. He is a well-known name in the field of Gujarati literature.The writer of "mor bani than ghat kare", The most popular Gujarati song.He was born in a Jain family in Chotila where the Government College has been renamed for this literary figure as Raashtreeya Shaayar Zaverchand Meghani College, Chotila. Mahatma Gandhi spontaneously gave him the title of Raashtreeya Shaayar. Besides this he received many awards like Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak and Mahida Paaritoshik in literature. He authored more than 100 books. His first book was a translation work of Rabindranath Tagore's called Kathaa-u-Kaahinee titled Kurbani Ni Katha which was first published in 1922. He contributed widely to Gujarati folk literature. He went from village to village in search of folk-lores and published them in various volumes of Saurashtra Ni Rasdhar. He was also the Editor of Phulchhab Newspaper of Janmabhoomi group.
Babubhai Pranjivan Vaidya was an Indian independence activist, politician, social reformer, journalist and writer.
Saraswatichandra is a Gujarati novel by Govardhanram Madhavaram Tripathi, an author of early twentieth century from Gujarat, India. Set in 19th-century India, It is acclaimed as one of the masterpiece of Gujarati literature. Though the novel was published in four parts, each part has a distinct thematic content, its own cast of characters and independent beginnings and ends. It was adapted into several plays, radio plays, films and TV series. It was well received by the number of critics, and was translated into several Indian languages, along with English. However, Suresh Joshi, a strong proponent of formalism theory, criticized the novel for its structural failure.
Gujarati cinema, also known as Dhollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Gujarati language widely spoken in the state of Gujarat. It is based in Ahmedabad. It is one of the major regional and vernacular film industries of the cinema of India, having produced more than one thousand films since its inception.
Swami Anand was a monk, a Gandhian activist and a Gujarati writer from India. He was the manager of Gandhi's publications such as Navajivan and Young India and inspired Gandhi to write his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth. He wrote sketches, memoir, biographies, philosophy, travelogues and translated some works.
Gujarati theatre refers to theatre performed in the Gujarati language, including its dialects. Gujarati theatre is produced mainly in Gujarat and Maharashtra, in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Baroda, Surat and elsewhere Gujarati diaspora exists, especially North America. Rustam Sohrab, performed by Parsee Natak Mandali on 29 October 1853 in Mumbai, marked the beginning of Gujarati theatre.
Milan (transl. Union) is a 1946 Hindi-language drama film directed by Nitin Bose. The film starred Dilip Kumar, Mira Misra, Ranjana, Pahari Sanyal and Moni Chatterjee. It was an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's 1906 Bengali story Noukadubi. The screenplay adaptation was done by Sajanikanta Das with dialogues translated into Hindi by P. L. Santoshi. The film's music was composed by Anil Biswas and the lyrics written by P. L. Santoshi and Arzu Lakhnavi.
The Secretary is a 1938 Hindi-language Indian comedy film directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi. The film was produced by Chandulal Shah under the Ranjit Pictures banner. The music was provided by Gyan Dutt with lyrics by Pyare Lal Santoshi. The main cast was Noor Mohammed Charlie, Trilok Kapoor, Madhuri, Kalyani Das, Waheedan Bai and Rajkumari.
Teen Batti Char Raasta is a 1953 Hindi-language comedy drama film on national integration directed by V. Shantaram. The film was made under the Rajkamal Kalamandir banner and produced by Shantaram. The story and dialogue were by Diwan Sharar while the cinematography was by G. Balkrishna. With music composed by Shivram Krishna, it had lyrics by Pyare Lal Santoshi. The star cast included Karan Dewan, Sandhya, Shashikala, Nirupa Roy, Sheila Ramani, Dewan Sharar and Lalita Kumari.
Chaturbhuj Doshi (1894–1969) was a Hindi and Gujarati writer-director of Indian cinema. He was one of the top Gujarati screenplay writers, who helped script stories for the Punatar productions. He is stated to be one of the leading figures who launched the Gujarati film industry with work on notable films like Gunsundari (1948) and Nanand Bhojai (1948). Doshi, was “well known” for his family socials and had become “a celebrity in his own right”. He made a name for himself as a journalist initially and was referred to as the "famous journalist" and publicist by Baburao Patel, editor of Filmindia.
The Children's literature in Gujarati language of India has its roots in traditional folk literature, Puranic literature, epics and fables from Sanskrit literature. Following 1830s, the large number of stories and fables adapted and translated from various traditional and western sources started to appear in Gujarati. Led by Gijubhai Badheka and Nanabhai Bhatt, the children's literature expanded rapidly in form of stories, poems, rhymes and riddles. Several authors and poets wrote for children intermittently and exclusively. Large number of magazines catering to children were published by middle of twentieth century. Later adventure novels, science fiction, young-adult fiction were also published. Ramanlal Soni and Jivram Joshi contributed for five decades creating stories, fictional characters and novels. Few children's plays were published while the biographies of historical characters appeared frequently.
Ramesh Mehta was an Indian actor, comedian and scriptwriter. He is considered to be the "Charlie Chaplin of Gujarat". He has acted in plays and in more than 190 Gujarati films. He wrote the scripts of several Gujarati films, including Hast Melap, Jesal Toral, Ghunghat, Raja Bharathari, Hothal Padamani and Valo Namori.
Vadilal Jechand Dagli (1926-1985) was Gujarati poet, essayist, leading economist and journalist of India.
Malela Jeev is a Gujarati language romance novel written by Pannalal Patel. Alongside Manvini Bhavai, it is one of Patel's two most widely acclaimed novels. It is a romantic tragedy of Kanji and Jivi, born in different castes. It follows the troubles they face in their love story.
Jayant Jhaverchand Meghani was an Indian editor, translator and bookman from Gujarat, India. He was the fifth son of Gujarati writer Jhaverchand Meghani whose several works he edited.
Kariyavar is 1948 Indian Gujarati film written and directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi. It was produced by Chimanlal Desai under banner of Sagar Movietone. It was based on the story by Shayda which itself was based on a folklore of a stepwell. The soundtrack was composed by Ajit Merchant.
Jesal Toral is a 1948 Indian Gujarati devotional film written and directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi.
