Paresh Rawal returns to Gujarati cinema after 4 decades with Dear Father

Actor Paresh Rawal is turning to his roots for a fresh outlook with his first Gujarati film in four decades.

The veteran has signed on for the film Dear Father, based on his own play of the same name.

The film will be directed by Umang Vyas and will feature Rawal, Mansi Parekh and Chetan Dhanani.

Rawal began his film career with a role in Gujarati cinema before switching to Hindi. His first film was Naseeb Ni Balihari (1982, Gujarati), directed by Nimesh Desai.

While the film did not make a mark, Rawal rose steadily in the Hindi film industry and was a well-known face by the end of the decade. Most recently, he was part of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Toofaan, starring Farhan Akhtar.

Dear Father is being produced by Ratan Jain and Ganesh Jain under the banner Venus Worldwide Entertainment and co-produced by the actor's wife, Swaroop Sampat Rawal.

The film is written by Dr Vivek Bele, the late Uttam Gada, and Aditya Rawal, Paresh's son, who made his own acting debut with Ranjan Chandel's Bamfaad (2020).

Producer Ratan Jain said, "Dear Father is our first venture into Gujarati films and I am confident of the end product. I am very close to Pareshji as I have done many films with him. And recently we have completed Hungama 2 wih him.

"During the shooting for Hungama 2, Pareshji told me about this film that he wanted to make and asked if I would be interested, and I said yes, of course.

"Now we have started shooting and I am very proud that we are making a film with one of the best actors of our industry with a story that is very close to Pareshji. I am sure the film will be loved by the audience."

Paresh Rawal will be seen alongside Meezaan Jafferi and Shilpa Shetty in Hungama 2, which is set for release on the Disney+ Hotstar OTT platform on 23 July.