A Gujarati film which broke several records and was just few inches away for an official entry from India at the Oscars. Also getting few inputs from Actor Shachi Joshi who played a pivotal role in Hellaro movie and her experience while filming on the sets.
Hellaro means “Outburst” , a kind of shock which hits you hard and brings a transformation around you, according to Abhishek Shah who’s not only the director of the film but also the captain of the ship. The story is based out of a village in Kutch where women lived with restrictions and treated harshly with certain rules to follow. One day they find a Drummer who makes them play “Garba” , which is an authentic gujarati traditional dance. This was followed secretly untill few of the villagers came to know about this which did not went well. The villagers wanted their women to just do the house-hold chores and nothing besides that.
Finally one day there was a sudden outburst of women playing Garba all over again, which made the villagers more fuming over it.
The idea is to share a clear picture that one cannot live under anyone’s pressure or follow the harsh rules created by anyone. Even today in few parts of India, such practices are happening and we need to know about it or fight back.
There are few real scenes in the movie but the final output represents a folk-tale.
There are many people who made weird films under the tag of Urban/Regional Gujarati cinema but Hellaro was an authentic movie which stands out amongst others. The makers and the actors never knew that this film will be a massive hit and loved by the people world-wide. This film set a pioneer in the Gujarati film industry and we are proud of it.
Shachi Joshi, who has played an inportant role in the movie Hellaro says, ” To be on the sets of Hellaro and being part of it is a true blessing.
It was exciting yet some nervousness in me when I got a call for the role of Ganga in the film Hellaro which was going to be directed by Sir Abhishek Shah. I always admire his plays which he directs for INT. This film would be something unique and special and I knew it from very first because this was coming from Abhishek sir and his team videowala.
To play Garba on desert and that too in extreme heat of April was challenging for all of us. Shoot time was also from early morning to evening so we all women (female actors+dancers) had to wake up at 2 AM in the night to reach on the base camp and get ready with costume makeup and all. This was a repeating cycle for few months. Actually in one thought, these all things seemed few difficult for me but Hellaro made me realise my inner strength. The story itself is very strong that enganged us mentally and physically and made us do our best in any difficulties. The whole team worked passionately for days and nights which was very inspiring. There was no chance to feel like “bas aaje hawe aaram karvo chhe..” haha..
Indeed I learnt a lot in terms of personal level and professional level both on the sets of Hellaro.
From National Award announcements to the special invite in Delhi, from getting appreciations in different film festivals in India and internationally, our film is now screening at Cannes Film Festival.
This is such a dream come true moment for us.
Hellaro has given us many magical moments!
In one sentence, I would say
“Dear Hellaro, Thankyou for everything! ️”.
The film also has a bunch of talented actors like Jayesh More, Shraddha Dangar, Aarjav Trivedi, Kaushambi Bhatt, Maulik Nayak, Tejal Panchsara, Brinda Trivedi Nayak, Ekta Bachwani, Denisha Ghumra, Shailesh Prajapati, Tarjanee Bhadla, Dhriti Patel, Prapti Mehta, Esha Kansara, Vrund Pokar, Shailesh Prajapati, Swati Dave, Kishan Gadhvi, Ankit Dave, Anjali Gor, Mit Jani, Nilesh Parmar, Arvind Vakhariya, Niilam Panchal, Jagruti Thakore and few others.
#hellaro #gujaratifilm #hellarothefilm #cannesfilmfestival #shachijoshi #abhishekshah
