“Although I am a Maharashtrian, I was born in Surat and consider Gujarati as my first language,” says Jayesh More . The Kaashi Raaghav and Hellaro actor, known for some outstanding performances in both films and theatre, adds, “Gujaratis are happy-go-lucky people who know how to celebrate life. They are big foodies, and nobody celebrates festivals like they do! Here, everything is larger than life and I like that. In fact, there is hardly anything Maharashtrian about me now (laughs)!

He adds, “I started doing Gujarati plays while in college. The SMC ( Surat Municipal Corporation ) is probably the only municipal corporation in the country that organises a drama competition for full-length plays and I really benefited from it. Of late, I have not been able to do plays because of my commitments on TV and in films. However, Gujarati theatre is big and even today, an actor can survive just on commercial Gujarati plays because they have an audience.”

Talking about Gujarati cinema, he shares, “I am glad to see so many different subjects and new genres being explored now. However, while there are many financers now, I want to see more knowledgeable producers coming forward to make good films. That makes a lot of difference because a good producer does not look at films just from the business point of view. Technically also, our industry has improved a lot and while we needed to bring a lot of professionals from Mumbai earlier while shooting here, things are different now. We have a lot of good local technicians. It is a very positive change.”