Getting three National Awards is a big win for Gujarati cinema: Viral Shah

Viral Shah, director of Kutch Express which won three prestigious awards at the 70^th National Film Awards, is understandably thrilled. He shares, “We were really excited while sending entries for the National Film Awards. We have won three awards and honestly, this is a little more than what we expected. I am very happy, excited, and grateful for this recognition.I think Kutch Express is the only Gujarati film to have won more than two awards at the National Film Awards.”

The filmmaker, who has also directed D-Town films Gulaam Chor, Golkeri and Midnights with Menka, adds, “I am glad that we have won an award for promoting social values. We wanted to tell a story about social issues, and focus on today’s society, but we were very clear that it has to be done without sounding preachy. Be it Raam Mori (writer), Manasi Parekh and Parthiv Gohil (producers) or Ratna Pathak Shah, we were on the same page. We believed in the story and wanted to make it entertaining. What we set out to do was challenging, but I am glad that we managed to achieve our goal.

Viral is happy that regional cinema is finally getting its due. He says, “I loved Kantara and I am glad that the film won big at the National Awards. It’s inspiring to see regional films getting recognition. It motivates filmmakers like me to try out stories that are truly different.”
He adds, “When Hellarowon big (it was the first Gujarati film to win the Best Feature Film Award at the 66^th National Film Awards), it firmly put the Gujarati film industry on the national map. Compared to the Marathi film industry or film industries down south, ours is still a very small industry. We have been continuously trying to prove ourselves and such recognition from the jury at the national level is a big win for Gujarati cinema. It will certainly push us to try harder and continue making good films.”

Talking about the film’s casting (it marked Ratna Pathak Shah’s D-Town debut), Viral says, “For this film, we always wanted to cast national faces because that ensures wider appeal. Once we narrated the story to Ratna Pathak Shah and Darsheel Safary, they said yes to the film within two days. Sometimes, actors who have pan-India appeal are reluctant to do regional films because they are apprehensive about whether these projects would be marketed well. They had no such insecurity and I am indebted to them, as well as Manasi Parekh and Parthiv Gohil, for their constant support.”