He cites the examples of ‘Jesal Toral’, ‘Desh Re Joya Dada Pardesh Joya’, ‘Kevi Rite Jaish’ and ‘Chhello Divas’ to highlight that freshness in film technique or story telling has attracted audiences to Gujarati films. With this much flux in people, producers couldn’t establish unity with those involved in exhibition of films – theatre owners - and the film industry ultimately suffers.īhatt says history shows that Gujarati films have always done well when there is an innovation. Due to the losses, more than 90% of people who enter the business of producing Gujarati films do not take up another project, because of high rates of flop films. This led to reduction in production budgets, with most shot on 16mm film instead of 35mm, resulting in poor quality projection. On assessing the 1991-2011 period, Bhatt found that the average spending on making of a Gujarati film was Rs 12 crore, but the returns were around Rs 7-8 crore. A mere 1% of Gujarat’s population watches Gujarati films in cinema halls, against 10%-12% who watch films in general. Demand for Gujarati films as a means of entertainment is very low and this is due to poor film quality.

An associate professor at a Pilvai college, Kartikey Bhatt, undertook research on the subject ‘Economic Problems of Regional Film Industries: A Case Study of Gujarati Film Industry’, for his doctoral study.īhatt says the poor quality of films coupled with the diminished scope for screening is the main cause of the permanent sickness of the Gujarati film industry. Why did the audience for Gujarati films shrunk? What ails the film industry? What is lacking in Gujarati films? The first ever research on the economics of Gujarati films finds this out.

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