“This (film Umbarro) is to show women that everything is possible if they are crossing boundaries and opening their wings like I have done in America,” said Falguni Patel of her latest film production at a recent special premier organized in Edison, attended by dignitaries, community leaders and film lovers.
Falguni Patel is also the producer of India’s 2018 National Award winning film Irada in the category of Best Film on Environment. Irada also won its actor Divya Dutta the National Award for Best Supporting Actress. Falguni Patel who is also an actor, has produced four films including Umbarro – Irada (2017), Ventilator (2018), Hirkani (2019), and Umbarro (2025). Umbarro is her second Gujarati production.
Speaking to the gathering of special guests, Falguni Patel said her parents taught her to spread her wings, do whatever she aimed for. She said she would also teach the same to her two daughters. “So this is very close to my heart and I hope the audience appreciates (it) in America as well,” she said.
“It is a story about boundaries of human beings. It could be a male female of every age group,” Falguni Patel said. The film is especially about Indian women who sacrifice a lot for their household work, for their careers, being the first to sacrifice for their family, she said.
Umbarro depicts what happens when seven Gujarati women who have not traveled out of their home towns, are all brought together in a travel group by two aspiring tour operators who will also be the tour guides in the destination of their travel, the city of London.
What follows is a roller coaster ride of language and currency goofs, of bonding, of discovering hidden aspirations and desires and finding emotional support and encouragement from within and from the newly found friends.
That is what the plane trip Gujarati film Umbarro is about. Bringing together seven women actors, the film boasts of a cast of veteran stage and television actors, the extremely talented Sucheta Trivedi and Vandana Pathak, the promising Vineeta Joshi, the recently-turned-to-acting writer Kajal Oza Vaidya, and other noteworthy actors. There is also a special appearance by the Navratri Queen Falguni Pathak.
The film, also produced by Sanjay Chhabria and co-produced by Amit Bhanushali, has been very successful in India, Australia, the UK and Africa.
Shot on location entirely in London, the film is written by Hemant Dhome with a screenplay by Director Abhishek Shah and Keyu Shah, the film maintains its comic streak throughout with touches of serious moments. Umbarro offers visual delights with cinematography by Tribhuvan Babu and audio delights with music by Mehul Surti. The title song ‘Umbarro’ and ‘London Ke Limbdi’ and ‘Travel Mode’ score well with the audiences.
Falguni Patel’s husband, co-producer Chintu Patel described the film as an uplifting, feel-good film with emotions, comedy, fantastic music and much more. He said the film was well received and had a 9.2 rating on IMDB and people were loving it.
Patel stressed that Umbarro was actually shot in London. “To have a Gujarati movie shot for 25 days in London was not easy because your budgets are very small. So I really want to thank all the actors and actresses they have done a tremendous job,” he said.
The film’s director, Shah, is amazing, Patel said. “He is a magician, you will see in the film,” Patel said, adding that the music was fantastic. He thanked co-producer Sanjay Chhabria for staying true to his commitment to the film. “We are very happy for Gujarati film industry and looking forward to promote Gujarati films in the US,” Patel said.
Chief guest Consul General of India in New York Binaya Srikanta Pradhan, commended the Patels for producing and bringing the film to the US and for promoting Indian culture.
“I would say it’s a true contribution to the cultural bridge between our two great Nations. What you are doing is in a very direct way contributing to promoting not only Gujarati movies which are becoming mainstream both in India and abroad, but also you are bringing the culture to United States.”
Hoping for films like Umbarro to have a wider viewership in America on OT platforms, Pradhan said, “I am really happy this year we are promoting Indian movies, not Bollywood alone.” He spoke about the Consulate’s plan to host with support from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting a forum in New York City with the star cast of the film on the movies and their contribution in our societies and nation building. “At the end of the day, these movies contribute in many different ways to bind our children to the families, to back home,” Pradhan said.
Chairman of ITV Gold and Parikh Worldwide Media, Padma Shri recipient Dr. Sudhir Parikh congratulated Falguni and Chintu Patel for producing good films which have worldwide popularity. He urged the Patels to keep producing films, and supporting the Gujarati Film Industry.
The title of the film Umbarro means the doorstep – outside which exists the wide world into which one can step. “I think all of you have crossed that ‘dehleej’ in one way when you came out of India. This is about women crossing the ‘dehleej’ but it is applicable to all,” Pradhan said.
Srujal Parikh, Joint Secretary of Federation of Indian Associations, said the film had a great success throughout India and parts of the world, and praised Falguni Patel for being a national award winning producer. Congratulating Falguni Patel on behalf of FIA and the Gujarati Association of North America for her achievement, Parikh urged the audience to support Gujarati Cinema in the US and also tell their friends and family about it.
TV Asia Chairman, H.R.Shah, thanked Consul General Pradhan for attending the screening of a Gujarati film, and for supporting the Gujarati community.
(Used with permission)
