Just the other day, I was telling a friend my eagerness to watch the movie ‘Parzania’ which is based on a true story and directed by US-based director Rahul Dholakia The movie is based on the 2002 Gujarat riots. And today Rediff has given us a small preview of this English movie. For Dholakia, it is also a very personal movie, based on a close friend’s trauma.
The film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Sarika, Corin Nemec, Parzan Dastur and Pearl Barsiwala. It is the story of a Parsi family caught helplessly in communal crossfire, and a young voice trying to make sense of all the insanity.
Movie Synopsis
Naseeruddin Shah plays Cyrus, a Parsi projectionist with a picture-perfect family: Shernaz (Sarika), his beautiful, dependable wife; Parzan (Parzan Dastur), his cricket-obsessed 10-year-old son; and Dilshad, (Pearl Barsiwala) his adorable eight-year-old daughter.
The Ahmedabad family’s warm comfort is suddenly shattered when the Sabarmati Express is set on fire, and 58 Hindus are killed. But it all seems distant, as the news plays on the radio and life ticks along as usual. But the kids smell fear when coming home from school, as the rickshaw-driver is asked if he is carrying any Muslims.
Soon, the world is rife with blood as thousands of fanatics out on an insane rampage. Shernaz is home with the kids when the attack takes place, and Cyrus is trying desperately to reach them. She manages to escape with Dilshad, but they don’t know where Parzan is.
The innocent family loses its son, and lives in constant fear, longing and even — increasingly impossible — hope.
Feedback @ IIFI 2005
As the film’s screening ended to a thunderous standing ovation, predictably, all were not pleased. Some journalists and delegates voiced voluminous dissent that the film only showed one side of the story, that of Hindu fundamentalism. Their cacophonous shouts became indecipherable babble.
After Dholakia tried hard to calm the crowds down (even as the rest of the journalists battled these naysayers), he had an unexpected ally. Om Puri walked into the auditorium, and took these fellows on.
Parzania is song-less film in English and has Hollywood cameraman Robert Eras among its credits. The music score by Zakir Husain with Ustad Sultan Khan on the sarangi, Rakesh Chaurasia on the flute, Peter Brooks on saxaphone.
It is one of those films that need to be talked about. Not only is it an extremely vivid portrayal of a horrific true moment, it also condemns — in no uncertain terms — the perpetrators of the nightmarish slaughter.
Eventually, however, it is the story of a family that has lost more than we can bear to imagine. Its a Film that raises questions; they do not look for solutions.
wanting to scream out loud, hoping that so-called “TV gurus†would hear our plead one day. This entry was posted on Friday, October 28th, 2005 at 9:02 am and is filed under Lists, Humor, India. You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. 46 Responses to “The old “idiot†box…†sowmya Says: October 28th, 2005 at 12:08 pm First time here. Your post took me through a nostalgic journey down DD lane. Indeed the
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