Chaal Jeevi Laiye sets new record, completes 2 years in cinemas

At a time when some people believe the cinema business is going to shrink, faced as it is with intense competition from a glut of OTT apps, it is heartening to see the Gujarati blockbuster hit Chaal Jeevi Laiye (2019) still going strong.

Believe it or not, the film has completed two years in theatres. Today marked the second anniversary of the film's release. Needless to say, not just the makers but even exhibitors are pleased as punch.

In fact, so happy are multiplexes that for the anniversary week they have increased the number of shows. Ritesh Laalan, CEO of Coconut Motion Pictures, said, “The multiplexes have added the shows on their own. We haven’t told them to do so. The film this week is having more than 200 shows across the country. Till last week, it had 50, mostly in Gujarat and Mumbai.”

A quick glance at the ticketing website BookMyShow reveals that the number of shows of Chaal Jeevi Laiye has increased in places like Ahmedabad (27 a day), Surat (24), Vadodara (17) and Anand (12). Mumbai has the third highest number of shows countrywide, at 23.

The film has also been re-released in Pune, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR with three shows each a day and in Hyderabad with two shows. In Kolkata, it now has one show daily. Surprisingly, even Patna in Bihar has one show daily this week. Tickets for most of these shows are priced at Rs100 or lower.

The collections of Chaal Jeevi Laiye till date are around Rs45 crore nett. Compared to Hindi, Tamil and Telugu hits, that number might seem insignificant, but it is a feat for a Gujarati film to reach this mark. What's more, the film shows no sign of slowing down. Ritesh Laalan revealed that in the week of Makar Sankranti [14 January], the collections doubled as compared to the previous week.

It is no wonder that the makers are ecstatic. A success bash was organized on Sunday in Ahmedabad and another is scheduled to take place next weekend in Mumbai for the cast and crew.

Chaal Jeevi Laiye is the story of a workaholic son who takes his terminally ill father on holiday to the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand to fulfil his last wish. On the way, they befriend a young woman named Ketki and the three undertake the most unexpected but satisfying journey of their lives. Starring Siddharth Randeria, a star of Gujarati theatre and cinema, Yash Soni and Aarohi Patel, the film was directed by Vipul Mehta with music by the popular composer duo Sachin-Jigar.

Last year, the makers had revealed plans to remake the film in Hindi. In fact, they had spoken to Rishi Kapoor and were about to get Ranbir Kapoor on board as well. However, the plans went kaput when the veteran actor died on 30 April 2020. But the remake plan is on and they are currently hunting actors for the lead characters.