Chaal Jeevi Laiye (2019) makers launch film's comic book at 1000-day bash

Coconut Motion Pictures and producer Rashmin Majithia..., makers of the superhit Gujarati film Chaal Jeevi Laiye (2019), threw a big bash in Ahmedabad last Wednesday, 27 October, on the film completing 1,000 days in cinemas.

Cinestaan.com had earlier reported that the makers of the film, the highest grossing Gujarati movie, were planning to celebrate the historic feat.

The entire cast and crew attended the party. The atmosphere at the venue was electric. An SUV, raft and tyre swing played important parts in the film and these three props were kept at the venue with guests encouraged to click pictures with them. Customized photos were handed over to the guests in the Chaal Jeevi Laiye poster backdrop.

Music director duo Sachin-Jigar, who have made their mark in Hindi cinema and composed the songs for this film, too, performed the songs ‘Papa Pagli’ and ‘Chaand Ne Kaho’ for the guests, along with Jigardan Gadhavi, adding to the fun.

Lead actor Siddharth Randeria, Gujarat's biggest film star currently, said he had never thought the film would run in theatres for 1,000 days, "When we make a film, we are never sure how it will be received by the audience," he said. "And to see the way the film is running makes me very, very happy. I am very proud to be associated with this project."

Asked if he now thinks it will complete 2,000 days in theatres, he laughed and replied, "You never know. This movie has been very lucky."

Asked about the possibility of a digital release for Chaal Jeevi Laiye, something many fans have also been asking on social media, producer Rashmin Majithia said, "This film has a larger-than-life scale, grandeur and even greater-than-life emotions. Hence it’s a film to be seen on the big screen. So we would like to encash on its theatrical run first. But definitely we will have a digital release at some point."

He added that it’s a phenomenal feeling that the film has turned out to be a historic blockbuster. "The entire team of Coconut has given its best, from the first day of recce to this thousand-day event," the producer said. "We faced a lot of hurdles, but the end result turned out to be fabulous. Even today, we feel like it’s a brand new, recently released film as the audience continues to shower love."

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Chaal Jeevi Laiye is still running in 160+ shows, not just in Mumbai and Gujarat but also in places like Coimbatore, Jharkhand and Pune, Majithia said. "Basically, wherever Gujaratis are present, our film is running in those cities or towns," he said. "We had a great run even overseas and international distributors are requesting us to re-release the film! So we are planning for it."

Director Vipul Mehta said, "I am on cloud 9! I am proud and also teary-eyed. Basically, it’s a lot of emotions that I am going through right now. In the last 15 years, hardly any film has completed 100 days. That our Gujarati film has completed 1,000 days and is still running successfully in 160+ shows is commendable. DDLJ was running in just one cinema hall. Chaal Jeevi Laiye is running in hundreds of theatres. Hence, it’s a phenomenal achievement. Yeh film Gujarati film ki dasha aur disha dono badlegi [This film will change the state and trajectory of Gujarati cinema]!"

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Bubbly actress Aarohi Patel said, "It obviously feels very good. We went through a lot of difficult times while filming in Uttarakhand. So iska fal mil raha hai humein yeh dekh ke achchha lag raha hai [Feels good to see that our hard work has borne fruit]!"

Patel's character was a rage among the little ones, especially the way she would exclaim “OMG”. Asked about this factor, she said, "Not just my 'OMG' dialogue, but the kids also like the 'Ghanu Jeevo' song. Young girls especially enjoy it."

Actor Yash Soni, the second male lead, said, "We never thought it will complete 1,000 days. Right now, the whole team has reunited and it feels great."

As for the film going on to complete 2,000 days, he said, "I really wish and hope it does looking at the way people are watching the film in large numbers even today."

Composer Sachin Sanghvi said, "We are two proud Gujaratis right now! We have been serving our mother language and also paying it back. The success we have today is because of the early inflection of Gujarati folk music and poetry in our lives. We had dreamed that Gujarati songs will someday become popular and youngsters will sing them. But never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that we would be associated with a film that will complete 1,000 days in theatres."

Jigar Saraiya said, "Hum log ab weekend waale ho gaye hain! We focus on whether koi film teen din chal gayi ya saat din chal gayi [The film industry today is only focused on the opening weekend. We want to know if a film did good business for three days or seven days]. But for a film to run for 1,000 days is unbelievable. I feel very, very proud to be associated with this film. And I hope we can bring back the era of silver jubilee, golden jubilee and platinum jubilee. Chaal Jeevi Laiye has hopefully restarted this trend."

Sachin added, "The idea was to make it a little friendly for youngsters. That's where it will get its shelf life. If the songs alienate the youngsters, toh fir baat hi nahi banegi [then it won't click]. I just hope we continue to follow this idea and films like this keep getting made."

Renowned artistes from the Gujarati entertainment Industry participated in the grand celebration. Among them were Malhar Thakar, Manoj Joshi, Parthiv Gohil, Manasi Parekh, Bhavya Gandhi and Dharmesh Mehta, Sujata Mehta and writers Kaajal Oza Vaidya and Tushar Shukla. Later, as the guests made their way to the exit, they received a surprise gift: a graphic book of the film. It contains the entire narrative in comic form and served as a fitting finale to the evening.

With this, Chaal Jeevi Laiye also became the first Gujarati film to be presented as a comic book, another accomplishment by an extraordinary film.