TV soaps add glitter to Rajkot imitation jewellery

Despite a tight schedule, Dhirubhai Patel and Mahesh Limbasiya, two Rajkot-based imitation jewellery makers, are thanking the regional cinema and daily TV soaps. And why not, the two-decade old imitation jewellery industry seems to be enjoying its newfound popularity thanks to many designs from this tier II town of Gujarat getting their screen time in regional films and in Hindi serials.

"We have been supplying imitation jewellery for serials like Balika Vadhu. Our distributor channels provide these imitation jewellery to the TV serials and film makers. In fact, we make available designs to jewellery makers in Rajkot and sell the imitation jewellery to our clientele in Mumbai," said Krishna Reddy of Mumbai-based Sweta Art and Sweta Collection.

 

At a turnover of Rs 600 crore and with over 1,000 imitation jewellery manufacturers, the imitation jewellery industry in Rajkot provides direct and indirect employment to more than 300,000 people in the Rajkot district.

"The imitation designs made in Rajkot are very well received in the regional cinema of South India. It also supplies to many Hindi television serials and we get a good business thanks to them," said Vinod Vekariya, president of Rajkot Imitation Jewellery Manufacturer Association.

According to industry, imitation jewellery used in several family soaps, apart from wedding sequences in movies and TV serials are sourced from Rajkot.

"The television industry has been traditionally buying imitation jewelry from Rajkot. We have a styling department that takes care of the costumes and jewellery which it sources from the jewellery suppliers that buy from source markets like Rajkot," says television producer and actor JD Majethia.

The industry offers a large range of jewellery that could cost anywhere between Rs 5 and Rs 5000. As Rajkot offers cheap labour and finished jewellery, there is an increasing demand from outside of Gujarat for imitation jewellery.

Several types of imitation jewellers from Rajkot have been supplied to south Indian movies and Hindi serials. "TV and regional films account for around 15-17 per cent of the total imitation jewellery business in Rajkot. The growth of the industry is more than 40 per cent but it is still largely unorganised. We are trying to get all the manufacturers under one roof soon," said Dhirubhai Patel, a Rajkot-based manufacturer and supplier of imitation jewellery.

What's more, the industry is also able to export quite an amount of imitation jewellery to African and Middle East countries. "Rajkot made jewellery is not only popular in India but the industry also exports imitation jewellery to Kuwait, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and African countries, among others. The total share of exports is about 15 per cent in overall business," said Narendra Mehta, vice president of the Imitation Jewellery Manufacturer Association.