Jesal Toral

For 1948 film, see Jesal Toral (1948 film).

Jesal Toral is a 1971 Indian Gujarati devotional film written and directed by Ravindra Dave. It proved to be one of the biggest hits of Gujarati cinema and ran for 25 weeks in theatres.

Jesal Toral
Poster
Directed by	Ravindra Dave
Written by	Jitubhai Mehta Himmat Dave (script)[1] Ramesh Mehta
Based on	Folklore of Jesal Toral
Produced by	Kanti R. Dave T. J. Patel[1]
Starring	Anupama Upendra Trivedi Arvind Trivedi Ramesh Mehta
Cinematography	Pratap Dave
Music by	Avinash Vyas (lyrics and composition)
Production company	Kirti Films
Release date	1971 (1971)
Running time	137 minutes
Country	India
Language	Gujarati

Cast

The cast is as follows:^[1]

• Anupama as Toral
• Upendra Trivedi as Jesal
• Arvind Trivedi
• Ramesh Mehta
• Jayant Bhatt
• Mulraj Rajda
• Mukund Pandya
• Laxmi Patel
• Sarala Dand
• Induben Rajda
• Lily Patel
• Vandana
• Suryakant Mandhare
• Umakant
• Veljibhai Gajjar
• Jayshree T. (guest appearance)

Production

Ravindra Dave had planned to remake his Hindi blockbuster film Nagina (1951) with Leena Chandavarkar and Sanjay Khan, but the project was delayed.^[2][3] As a result, he turned his production crew to Gujarati cinema to keep them employed.^[4]

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. It was the first Eastmancolor Gujarati film and was a debut film of Upendra Trivedi and Ramesh Mehta.^[2][3][1] It was shot in Orvo technicolor. As the Laxmi Studio at Baroda was not yet commissioned, the film was partly shot in Kutch and partly in Mumbai.^[5]

Soundtrack

Jesal Toral
Soundtrack album by Avinash Vyas
Released	23 January 1971 (1971-01-23)[6]
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	23:56
Language	Gujarati
Label	Saregama
External audio JioSaavn

All lyrics are written by Avinash Vyas; all music is composed by Avinash Vyas.

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Dhuni Re Dhakhavi"	Mahendra Kapoor	2:50
2.	"Ori Ori Aav Gori"	Asha Bhosle	3:11
3.	"Jesal Karile Vichar"	Suman Kalyanpur	3:20
4.	"Paap Tarun"	Diwaliben Bhil, Ismail Valera	1:42
5.	"Roi Roi Kone Sambhalavu"	Ismail Valera	4:31
6.	"Bujhai Ja"	Mahendra Kapoor,	1:43
7.	"Thobhi Ja Thobhi Ja"	Suman Kalyanpur	3:22
8.	"Mara Payal Ni Chhuti Dor"	Krishna Kalle	3:17
Total length:			23:56

The song "Dhuni Re Dhakhavi" became very popular.^[7]

Release and reception

The film was released in 1971.^[5] The film was exempted from the tax by the Government of Gujarat to encourage production of the Gujarati films.^[5]

The film proved to be one of the biggest hits of Gujarati cinema^[2][3] and ran for 25 weeks in theatres. It won 17 awards from the Government of Gujarat. 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.^[4][8][2]