Bey Yaar, it’s been a decade!

When Bey Yaar released on August 29, 2014, few thought that it would become a huge hit and change the course of Gujarati cinema. As the movie (directed by Abhishek Jain) completes a decade today, the film’s team shares some memorable anecdotes with us.

Bey Yaarremains one of Gujarati cinema’s biggest milestones and a new era started after this film. I was still doing a corporate job when I was offered this film.I took leave for 20 days and shot in Ahmedabad. After the film’s release, Niren Bhatt (writer) called me and said, “You have no idea what’s happening. Mujhe lagta nahi tum lambajobkar paaoge.” I just laughed and thought he was joking. BeforeBey Yaar,youngsters hardly watched Gujarati films and we had no clue that it was going to be a life-changing experience. None of us did the film for monetary gains; we just wanted to do something for our language and culture.”


I would like to remember Amit Mistry (he died in 2021) today. He did a brilliant job and was a very supportive co-actor. There was a scene where his character was intoxicated, and I had to snap him out of it. We improvised and I ended up slapping him to bring him to his senses. Later, I apologised to him but he was very nonchalant about it. Along with Kevi Rite Jaish, Bey Yaar’s unprecedented success started a new wave in Gujarati cinema. I was very new to acting back then and this film boosted my confidence. While I knew it would be a good film, we did not anticipate this level of commercial and critical success. It was phenomenal!

We were pumped up after the positive response to Kevi Rite Jaish (2012) and while we wanted to release Bey Yaar in a humble way, the terrific response meant that it was released in more than 16 countries. It ran for more than 56 weeks at theatres. This was crucial for the industry to prove that the success of Kevi Rite Jaish wasn’t a fluke. After Bey Yaar’s success, the subsidy policy for Gujarati films was re-introduced. A lot of people have requested us to re-release the film and make a sequel. While I am not convinced about a sequel, we may re-release it if audiences are keen.

Niren Bhatt and Bhavesh Mandalia, who co-wrote the film, are close friends. Niren tells us, “After the success of Stree 2a lot of people ask me whether I have seen this kind of crazy audience reaction. I tell them I have seen it all thanks to Bey Yaar, which was also my first film as a lyricist. I am indebted to that film because that’s where the journey started for me. Also, it’s special that a story about two friends was written by two very close friends. Bhavesh underwent a kidney transplant while the film was being made but he was completely involved. It remains an emotional piece of creation for us. I had seen Pratik during the rehearsals of a play directed by Saumya Joshi and told Abhishek that we must cast this guy for the film.”
Bhavesh adds, “While the industry (D-Town) was at a nascent stage, we were confident that Gujaratis are spenders and will watch a Gujarati film in theatres if the content is good. We gave it our all and it took us almost a year to write the film.”

Abhishek wanted to check how Divyang Thakkar and Pratik Gandhi look together. So, he called both to Prithvi Theatre for a meeting without revealing the reason. “My cinematographer was with me and after watching them together, we were convinced,” shares Abhishek.