Actor Manasi Parekh won the National Film Award for Best Actress for the Gujarati film, ‘Kutch Express’. She shared the award with South actor, Nithya Menen. She exclusively spoke to IndiaToday.in about how overwhelmed she is with the honour. The actor also shared what it means when regional films receive felicitations like these.
Manasi Parekh said that she has been crying ever since she received the Best Actress award. “I’ve been inundated with calls and messages, and I’ve been crying since, like, an hour and a half. Now I’m okay. My makeup is completely dissolved. It’s incredible, because, firstly, the fact that I got Best Actress, and I’m sharing it with Nithya Menen, who is another incredible regional actress. Last year, this award was shared by Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon,” she told us.
She further added, “This year, two regional actresses are winning it. It is a big deal. The best part is that this film was produced by me and my husband [Parthiv Gohil]. It touches on another level.”
Manasi recalled memories from the shoot of ‘Kutch Express’. She said, “We were working very hard and there was always this feeling that this film is going to be something magical. And even Ratna Pathak Shah, who is such a veteran, came to me five days into the shoot, and said, ‘Manasi, I’m so proud and happy that this is my first Gujarati film. I’m very proud to be working with you and your husband.’ All of us were feeling that this was a very special film. Now, the National Award has validated that. But we were always very proud of the film.”
Regional cinema has always been given a distant cousin treatment. We asked Manasi how it feels when regional cinemas are honoured on a national level. She said, “It’s great because I wish regional cinema was distributed across the country, and not just to the regions and language it is specific to. For example, I would have wanted ‘Kutch Express’ to be released across the country and not just in Gujarat and Mumbai. But because of the high cost of distribution, a Gujarati producer cannot take that call because it doesn’t work like that.”
She continued, “But like how Malayalam films are now releasing in Mumbai, I’m hoping any good regional film reaches nationally in theatres. This is something I would wish as a producer. Such recognition helps everybody; not just me, but the whole industry. Regional cinema is the way to go because that’s where the stories, characters, and multitude of complexities are.”
On a concluding note, Manasi said, “Parthiv [Patel] and I were crying. We know how hard we worked. He was behind the scenes in the film because he was producing it, but I was also acting in it. Just the fact that both of us are sharing something so special as husband and wife and co-producers. It’s a feeling I got when I gave birth to my daughter. I was as overwhelmed then as I am overwhelmed now.”
Directed by Viral Shah, ‘Kutch Express’ also stars Ratna Pathak Shah, Dharmendra Gohil, Darsheel Safary and Viraf Patell in key roles.
