Gujarati hero eyes US conquest

AHMEDABAD: A Gujarati movie is all set to woo US audience with English dubbing. The filmmaker is also eyeing a record - for being the first Gujarati movie to get released in the US in English.
Veer Hamirji, a film based on the life of a Rajput warrior of Saurashtra, will get released next month in the state in Gujarati. The producers have tied up with an international brand for movie distribution that will ensure mid-2012 national and international release.
A young team of alumni of the MS University’s Faculty of Performing Arts have tried to capture the essence of Hamirji Gohil, a Rajput warrior from Lathi who died along with his friend Vegdo Bhil and a small army of youngsters in medieval times to save Somnath falling in the hands of Muslim invaders. Gohil has now been part of legend as his statue greets pilgrims at the entrance of Somnath temple commemorating his sacrifice.
Talking about the project, Maulik Pathak, who plays multiple roles of the actor for title role, producer, scriptwriter and editor, told TOI that he came across a thesis written about invasions on Somnath by Dipak Vyas, a researcher of Mumbai University, two years back.
“The story of a young man sacrificing his life for a cause touched me and I decided to make a film on Hamirji’s life. We started building a team for a film project. While most of the current Gujarati movies have budget less than Rs 50 lakh, we raised fund of more than Rs 1 crore not to compromise on quality. We went through folklores, history books and even met with descendants of Gohil for the research,” said Pathak.