Why National Award winner Manasi Parekh believes Gujarati cinema is ready for world

Celebrity couple Manasi Parekh and Parthiv Gohil said they are building Gujarati films for international audiences. In an exclusive conversation with us, they argued that deeply local stories can travel globally as language barriers fade.

In Short

• Manasi Parekh and Parthiv Gohil aim to globalise Gujarati cinema post Laalo success
• They see language as no barrier; local stories have universal emotions
• Upcoming projects include Nanda Devi, Purple America and Laxman with global and local themes

Gujarati cinema is stepping out of its comfort zone, and actor Manasi Parekh and her husband Parthiv Gohil want to help take it much further. After the success of the 2025 film Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate, the film produced under their home banner Soul Sutra, the actor-singer couple are expanding their production ambitions beyond India, with international collaborations, festival connections and a slate of films that they hope will travel across borders.

In an exclusive interview with India Today Digital, Parekh and Gohil spoke about building a Gujarati-to-global storytelling ecosystem, why they believe language is no longer a barrier and how their very different strengths have shaped their journey as producers.

"We both are artists. We both have this love for the Gujarati language and Gujarati cinema,” Parekh said, explaining why they eventually decided to move into production. “It's not that we want to make films in Gujarati and then say that they are going international. Our stories are local but the emotion is global,” she added.

For them, going global was never about abandoning the roots of Gujarati cinema. If anything, it was about taking its specificity with them. The couple, who began their journey as artists before moving into production, have now built a production ecosystem around stories they believe can travel. Their sixth film as producers is part of a larger plan that began taking shape after the devotional drama Laalo.

They have now produced six films, but the journey was not always straightforward. “Every project we did, we had to start from scratch. We realised that the world is shrinking, and the lines are blurring. The lines between regional and global, commercial and art, everything is collapsing. It is the birth of something new," she said.

That experience eventually led them to think beyond individual films and towards building a larger ecosystem around Gujarati storytelling. After director Ankit Sakhiya's Laalo, that ambition became more concrete. The film was taken to international audiences and released in 41 countries, while the couple also began working on international distribution with festivals such as Cannes and Venice.

Manasi also pointed to the growing popularity of Korean shows in India and the international attention being given to films from different parts of the country as evidence of how dramatically audience habits have changed.

“It’s not just about Hindi cinema going international. It’s about regional cinema going international – whether it is Malayalam, whether it is Nagaland,” she said.

And that, she believes, is where Gujarati cinema can find its own global audience. She said, “We want to take our stories to the world. This will not only elevate the Gujarati industry but storytelling from India as a whole.”

Not a competition between Hindi and regional cinema: Manasi Parekh

The actor, who was recently seen in the Netflix show Chumbak, also believes Bollywood's traditional formula is being questioned, while regional industries have continued to find strength in stories rooted in their own cultures.

“Bollywood is also realising that all the old formulae are not working,” Parekh said, adding, “Regional cinema has always survived because the budgets are controlled, and the content is very much driven by the language and culture.”

But she doesn't see this as a competition between Hindi and regional cinema. “It's not just about Hindi cinema going international. It is about regional cinema going international – whether it's Malayalam or cinema from Nagaland,” she said.

Her larger point is simple: audiences may not speak the language of a story, but they can still understand what it is trying to say. “Language is not a barrier any more,” Parekh added.

Kutch Express gave that push

The couple's confidence also comes from what they have already achieved. The 2023 drama Kutch Express was a major milestone for them, winning three National Film Awards. Interestingly, Parekh also became the first-ever Gujarati actor to receive the Best Actress award.

For Parekh, that recognition represents more than a personal career achievement. It is also evidence of how Gujarati stories can find a much wider audience without losing the identity that makes them distinctive.

Not just that, the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony held at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat last week added another layer of significance for the industry, making the moment particularly meaningful for Gujarati filmmakers.

Manasi and Parthiv's upcoming slate includes three projects at different stages – Nanda Devi, Purple America and Laxman. While Nanda Devi and Purple America have international dimensions, Laxman is rooted in Gujarati storytelling.

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