Cinema VinesDeepak Tijori, the actor who captured audiences in the 1990s, has recently returned to the silver screen with a Gujarati feature titled Get Set Go. The film hit theatres on 7 August, a week ahead of the Independence Day slate that included the Hindi releases Batwara 1947 and Awarapan 2.
During a recent media interaction, Tijori expressed frustration that the screenings of Get Set Go were abruptly dropped, even though the film was reportedly performing well. He said, ‘We are facing a problem as our film is doing well. It was playing in a huge number of shows. And the moment these two Hindi films (Batwara 1947 and Awarapan 2) released, most of our shows simply vanished into thin air.’
Speaking out against what he sees as preferential treatment for Hindi blockbusters, Tijori added, ‘Just because two big Hindi films released, should we forget Gujarati cinema?’ He highlighted the effort and investment that went into the production, noting that the film was not made on a small budget and that extensive action sequences were a testament to the crew’s hard work.
Tijori called on the Gujarat government to adopt a policy similar to Maharashtra’s requirement that theatres give a set number of slots to Marathi films. He urged, ‘I request the government of Gujarat to please implement such a rule for Gujarati films. A Gujarati film deserves respect in the state of Gujarat at least. That would give us an assurance to us that at least our film would remain in cinemas.’
He concluded that the support he seeks must go beyond a simple subsidy, insisting that the state’s backing is essential for the survival of regional cinema. ‘Right now, what happened with us that we woke up in the morning and realized that our film is just not there in Gujarat! It is a shocker. We need the support of the government. Only support in the name of subsidy is not enough,’ he said.
