After 430 movies, all over the world, Paresh Rawal is all staged for a comeback in Gujarati films with an adaptation of the popular Gujarati play, Dear Father which interestingly was also the play through which he made a comeback in the Gujarati play scene exactly 10 years ago in 2011.
Dear Father is an adaptation of a very popular Marathi play Katkon Trikon by Dr Vivek Bele. It is a comic family drama about three members of one household. The play starred Chetan Dhanani, Mrinamayee Godbole, as well as Paresh Rawal himself.
Paresh Rawal, known for his immaculate acting range and roles in many movies where he is either a villain or an ally to the hero. Some of his roles in timeless comedy classics like Hera Pheri, OMG, Andaaz Apna Apna, Welcome and Bhool Bhulaiyaa are still cherished. After establishing himself in Bollywood, he is coming back to Gujarati cinema after 30 years, after his last outing Parki Jani (1991).
Rawal explains, “Dear Father is a play that is close to my heart. I wanted to turn this play into a film script for a long time. I have been doing many plays for years and had exhausted most of them. I wanted the story to reach a wider section of audiences and society. I also wanted to be a part of a film that is meaningful and valuable in my mother tongue, Gujarati. Glad to get a chance to do a Gujarati film after 30 years.”
He says that the play has a good screenplay and is an emotional thriller but turning it into a good screenplay took some work.
He is happy that the team was able to make it to success. “The film will have a small cast, so there won’t any hassle while shooting or else amid the pandemic, shooting with a bigger unit has its own challenges. Primarily, it is the story that drew me and drove me to turn it into a film. In terms of screenplay, the story will be racy and gripping while my approach while acting will be unlike my theatre performances. Over there, one has to be loud for the audiences in the back while in cinema, you can be subtle and internalised,” he says.
