Bey Yaar

I am watching a Gujarati movie after quite sometime. I was born in Gujarat and my parents have spend all their life in that state so I know how to read, write and speak the language. Even though I spent 2 months in a year in my hometown I did watch Gujju movies as a kid. 


(9 months = boarding in Rajasthan, 
1 month = Granny's house for vacation with atleast 10 cousins and another 5-6 cousins visiting)

The earliest and the only movies I remember seeing were set in villages with Naresh Kanodia, Kiran Kumar and Aruna Irani. 

I came across Bey Yaar at this blog which is now my source for good movie recommendations and downloaded and watched it today. 

The movie is about 2 friends- Tanio (pet name) played by Pratik Gandhi and Chakko, Divyang Thakkar. Their 3rd friend is Uday, a painter, played by Kavin Dave. Tanio and Chakko want to be rich someday just like any normal Gujju. They invest money with a guy who claims the Goddess can triple their money but he turns out to be a con artist and they lose money.

That's when Tanio notices the M.F Hussain's painting in Chakko's father's tea shop. The father is played by Darshan Jariwala who was friends with M.F Hussain when both were struggling to make it. Hussain had gifted him the painting then and it is priceless now. 

Tanio and Chakko get Uday to paint a fake and replace it with the original. They plan to mortgage the original for money with an art dealer Gandhi, played by Manoj Joshi. But Gandhi calls Chakko the next day to inform him that the painting is fake. He thinks either Tanio has stolen the original or his father has lied to him. Chakko fights with Tanio but later realizes he is innocent. He then suspects his father but ends up pissing him off. That's when Tanio and Chakko realize that Gandhi has stolen the painting and there is no way of proving it to anybody. 

They make a plan to get the painting and manage to do so. The plan is something similar to the one seen in Khosla ka Ghosla so I won't get into it. 

Here is what I loved about the movie:
- The authentic setting and situations. Chakko's parents go for morning walk everyday. And his father is screaming at the mother asking her to hurry else the juice wala guy will be gone. 
That's how it happens at A'bad. Everyone goes for walks in the parks. After which they have their fill of idlis, poha, upma and juices outside the park. Some of us went for a walk so we could eat idlis later. 

- The dialogues are so real. That's how Gujjus talk.... with the slang and all. If you are not a Gujju or haven't lived there, you may find it a little weird. Typical Gujju words like 'bakka' which mean 'honey/sweetheart/dear/friend/brother'... it's like the 'bhai' of Delhi. And you can refer to anyone as 'bakka'- brother/bf/gf/child/sister/friend/random stranger.. anyone

- It is entertaining. The story may not be unique compared to Bollywood but it's funny and enjoyable throughout

- I think it's one of the few movies with an urban setting and that's why it's being appreciated. I was reading reviews on IMDB and all I read was '3 cheers for Gujarati cinema' .. 'we are so proud' etc. There were no reviews, just Gujjus feeling happy and pumped. 

- Actors. Superb. So much better than most Bollywood movies

What I did not like :
- The songs. Boring
- Background music. Very loud and annoying in some scenes 

If you are a Gujju you should watch this flick. Don't miss it.