1st Gollywood sequel coming soon

VADODARA: What do you do when you have already tasted success with a runaway hit flick? Make a sequel, of course. The ever growing trend in Bollywood, now seems to have caught up with Gollywood too, as shooting begins for a sequel to the runaway hit ‘Maiyarma Manadu Nathi Lagtu’ (MMNL), that will be the first Dhoom 2, Phir Hera Pheri or Lage Raho Munnabhai of Gujarati movies. Already remade in Oriya and Bengali, the 2001 release had caught the fancy of Suraj Barjatya of Rajshri Movies, who met it’s producer, director and writer Jaswant Gangani, after knowing about the movie. Besides making the sequel, Gangani also plans a remake of the movie in Hindi. The movie already had many firsts to its credit in Gollywood. It was the first Gujarati film to be shot and dubbed in digital Dolby sound and also had appealing camerawork and choreography. It was touted to be made at a budget of around Rs 1.5 crore, much higher than the Gujarati film industry standards. Buoyed by the success of MMNL, Gangani is all set to make a sequel. "The movie celebrated golden jubilees in four or five theatres and silver jubilees in several others. It was successful in Oriya and Bengali too, and won several awards in both states," said Gangani. In 2001, the film swept the first Gujarati Screen and Stage Awards with nine awards, including those for the best film, best director, best actor, best actress, best story, best music director, best lyrics, best editor and best comedian (male). The first part revolved around a girl, who as a teenager has several dreams regarding her beloved. She meets the love of her life on attaining youth and is all set to get married, when she comes to know that her husband has cancer and is about to die. But the girl (played by Anandi Tripathi), stays beside him and fate, too, takes a turn with her beloved (played by Hiten Kumar) recovering completely. Both Kumar and Tripathi will also feature in MMNL’s sequel, along with Gunjan Kapoor, an actress who has acted in Bhojpuri films so far. The plot of the sequel takes off 30 years from where MMNL left off. Gangani may make forays into Bollywood through MMNL’s remake ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas.’ "I plan to begin recording the songs for the movie in December and if all goes well, it should be on the floor by January. Barjatyaji wanted to make the movie, but I wanted to do it on my own some day," said Gangani. The sequel, meanwhile, is already being shot at Lucky Studio in Halol, and Gangani plans to release it on January 11. Shooting for it began on August 15.