''Jesal Toral'' is a 1971 Indian

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

devotional film written and directed by

Ravindra Dave Ravindra Dave (16 April 1919 – 21 July 1992) was an Indian film director, producer, editor and screenwriter. He directed more than 30 Hindi films in the 1950s and 1960s including several hits like ''Nagina'' (1951), '' Agra Road'' (1957), ''Po ...

. It proved to be one of the biggest hits of Gujarati cinema and ran for 25 weeks in theatres.

Cast

* Anupama as Toral * Upendra Trivedi as Jesal *

Arvind Trivedi Arvind Trivedi (8 November 1938 – 6 October 2021) was an Indian actor and politician from Gujarat. He, alongside his brother Upendra Trivedi, was prolific in Gujarati cinema for over 40 years. He became a household name for playing the role ...

* Ramesh Mehta * Jayant Bhatt *

Mulraj Rajda Mulraj Rajda (13 November 1931 – 23 September 2012) was an Indian writer, actor and director who predominantly worked in Hindi and Gujarati films, television shows and theatre. He is regarded as one of the most finest artist in the Gujarati ...

* Mukund Pandya * Laxmi Patel * Sarala Dand * Induben Rajda * Lily Patel * Vandana *

Suryakant Mandhare Suryakant Mandhare was an Indian actor, in the Marathi film industries. Actor and artist Chandrakant Mandare Chandrakant Mandhare ( mr, चंद्रकांत मांडरे, (13 August 1913 – 17 February 2001) was a well-known Ma ...

* Umakant * Veljibhai Gajjar *

Jayshree T. Jayshree Talpade (born c. 1953) is an Indian actress and dancer who mostly plays in Bollywood films. Career Talpade began her career at age 5 in 1958 with ''Goonj Uthi Shehnai''. She gained popularity when she started performing item dances i ...

(guest appearance)

Production

Ravindra Dave had planned to remake his Hindi blockbuster film ''Nagina'' (1951) with

Leena Chandavarkar Leena Chandavarkar (born 29 August 1950) is an Indian former actress who appeared in Bollywood movies as a leading actress and now appears in reality shows. She was an actress during the late 60s and early 70s. She played leading heroine opposi ...

and

Sanjay Khan Sanjay Khan (born Shah Abbas Ali Khan Tanoli, 3 January 1941) is an Indian actor, producer, and director known for his works in Hindi films and television. Sanjay Khan made his debut in Chetan Anand's 1964 film '' Haqeeqat'', followed by the R ...

, but the project was delayed. As a result, he turned his production crew to Gujarati cinema to keep them employed. The film is based on local folk legend of bandit Jesal Jadeja who was preached and reformed by Kathi saint-woman Toral. Their memorial shrines are located in Anjar in Kutch district,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. It was the first

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...

Gujarati film and was a debut film of Upendra Trivedi and Ramesh Mehta. It was shot in Orvo technicolor. As the Laxmi Studio at

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

was not yet commissioned, the film was partly shot in Kutch and partly in Mumbai.

Soundtrack

Release and reception

The film was released in 1971. The film was exempted from the tax by the

Government of Gujarat The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciar ...

to encourage production of the Gujarati films. The film proved to be one of the biggest hits of Gujarati cinema and ran for 25 weeks in theatres. It won 17 awards from the

. The film is considered to have revived the Gujarati cinema. Dave went on to direct more than 25 Gujarati films and never returned to Hindi cinema.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title 1971 films Films set in Gujarat Films shot in Mumbai Films shot in Gujarat Films based on Indian folklore 1970s Gujarati-language films