''Dariya Chhoru'' is a 1999 Indian Gujarati film directed by

Vipul Amrutlal Shah Vipul Amrutlal Shah (commonly known as Vipul Shah) is a film producer and director of Hindi films. He began his career with Gujarati theatre. He was part/director of a number of Gujarati dramas, some of which were well received by audience. He ...

. The film stars

Jamnadas Majethia Jamnadas "JD" Majethia (born 5 February 1969) is an Indian actor, director and producer. He is well known for his work in Gujarati and Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standard ...

and

Shefali Shah Shefali Shah ( Shetty; born 22 May 1973) is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Working primarily in independent Hindi films, she has received multiple local and foreign accolades for her performances. Shah's acting career star ...

in lead roles. The film won nine awards by the state of Gujarat, including Best Film, Best Director, and acting awards for its leading stars. The film is a love story situated on the coast of

Saurashtra Saurashtra, Sourashtra, or variants may refer to: ** Kathiawar, also called Saurashtra Peninsula, a peninsula in western India ** Saurashtra (state), alias United State of Kathiawar, a former Indian state, merged into Bombay State and since its d ...

in Gujarat between a poor man and young woman from a wealthy family.

Plot

Along the seacoast of

in Gujarat, a love story sparks between a poor man and a young woman from a rich family. The two decide to marry against her father's disapproval.

Production

The film is Vipul Shah's directorial debut. The script was also written by a first-timer, Prakash Kapadia. The film is the first Gujarati film to be filmed on 35 mm cinemascope.

Cast

*Rupa Divetia

Soundtrack

Release and reception

The film was a box-office success. According to ''The Times of India'', the film catered to educated Gujarati viewers. According to the book ''Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas'', ''Dariya Chhoru'' was among the films "started the trend of spending big money on publicity in the Gujarati film industry." According to the director, film actor

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

praised it as the best regional film he had seen. According to the book ''Gujarat'', the film succeeded in spite of prejudice against Gujarati cinema: The same book wrote that the film "proved that with sincere efforts made for them , good Gujarati films can be produced". The author further writes that the story is "beautifully portrayed" due to the "skillful handling" of the director, and takes note of how "Vipul Shah and J. D. Majithia and Shefali Chhaya as screen artists could create fresh hopes among the film goers in Gujarat". Film director

Sanjay Leela Bhansali Sanjay Leela Bhansali (born 24 February 1963) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and music composer, who works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several awards, including seven National Film Awards and twelve Filmf ...

had watched the film and was so impressed with the film and the dialogue that he employed writer Kapadia for his 2002

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

-nominated film ''

Devdas ''Devdas'' (, transliterated as ''Dēbôdās'') is a Bengali romance novel written by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The story pivots a tragic triangle linking Devdas, an archetypal lover in viraha (separation); Paro, his forbidden childhood love ...

''.

Awards

The film was the major winner with nine wins at the Gujarat State Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor for Majethia, and Best Actress for Shah.

References

Bibliography

External links

*{{IMDb title, 31579497 1999 films 1990s Gujarati-language films