"We are not worried about recovering money from India, but we want people to see it because this issue is of concern to every Indian" - Rahul Dholakia 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, January 22, 2007 - 07:12 IST
Rahul Dholakia made his directorial debut with Kehta Dil Baar Baar, a romantic comedy that starred Jimmy Shergill, Kim Sharma and Paresh
Rawal. His next film Parzania is scheduled to release on Jan 26. It is far from the comedy genre and is inspired by the real life story of a Parsi
family which was devastated during the Gujarat riots. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika in lead roles. Let’s talk with Rahul and know
more about Parzania.
From Kehta Hai Dil Baar Baar to Parzania, this is quite a drastic diversion. How did it happen?
I had just finished shooting of Kehta Hai Dil Baar Baar on January 13, 2002. The very next day I went to Ahmedabad for Uttrayan, the kite
flying festival. Me and all my friends get together at Ahmedabad on that day and fly kites. There was also a friend of mine called Tara Modi, who was
there with his entire family. We all had a good time like every year. The next month, which February 27, the Godhra incident happened and on
February 28 was the repercussion in Ahmedabad. After the riots we learned that Dara’s son Azhar was missing. When this happened, I felt I should
do something about this. If I keep silent, then I will be as guilty as the people who are responsible for this. Also, being a Gujarati myself I felt
somewhat responsible for what happened. Especially, in this case as this happened to a Parsi family, who are neither Hindu nor Muslims. They are
so harmless and innocent people. I then started writing Parzania and at that stage I didn’t know where it will go, I just kept writing it. Then as I started
getting into the subject and the more research I did, I found out that this wasn’t just another riot; it was more orchestrated than ever before. Hence, I
thought it is both my moral and social responsibility to make this film.
| Parzania is inspired from the story of my friend Dara, whose son
Azhar went missing during the Gujarat riots. |
How did the lost boy’s family react when they learned that you are making a film?
I think they were all for me making the film. Since the time I told them that I am doing a film on the Ahmedabad riots, they have been very supportive
of it. I have been sitting with them, discussing the story of their boy who got lost in the riots, and learned what they did about it. I have been doing
intensive research on the issue, involving them at every stage. In fact, Dara is a friend of mine and that is one of the main reasons I made this film.
What does Parzania mean?
Parzan is the name of Naseeruddin’s boy in the film. He has an imaginary world called Parzania. It is almost like Utopia. It is a kind of world that all
children want to be in. but unfortunately, there is a reality that exists which is not as beautiful as Parzan’s dream world. When he is supposed to be
in a perfect world, he has to live in a world full of hatred. This is the reason for the tagline of the film which is ‘Heaven and Hell on Earth’.
| Parzania is inspired from the story of my friend Dara, whose son
Azhar went missing during the Gujarat riots. |
Give us an over view of the film.
This story is about a normal middle class Parsi family who live in their own sweet world. All of a sudden one day, Godhra incident happens and they
are attacked the next day and their whole world is destroyed. And now, five years later, this family is still in search of their missing son. I think
Parzania is a very anti-hate film. It is a pro-humanity film and not pro-community film. The important message in the film is ‘anti-hate’ attitude,
because hatred will destroy you and also others.
In this case, the hatred has destroyed a family, even though it was not their fault at all. And cases like this exist not just in India or Gujarat but
everywhere, be it Africa, Bosnia, Iraq, New York, London or anywhere in the world. So, in that sense, Parzania is a universal film.
| This is a very anti-hate film. It is a pro-humanity film and not
pro-community film. |
This is a highly controversial political subject. At the same time, there are lots of untold stories of common man involved, who have been victims.
How difficult was it for you to research on this subject and extract material for your film?
It wasn’t difficult to extract material on this subject, since everyone was willing to talk. Besides, there was so much written about it by the human
rights commission and the various parties which were pro and against this. It took me long (about a year and a half) to research because when you
are working on such subject, you don’t have to be wrong. One month after the incident took place, I went to Godhra. In fact, I skipped my nephew’s
wedding that day and went to these places with my handy cam, to see what the situation was like. And the research was done till such a level that
the background sounds in the film is the real sound from ‘relief camps’.
Does Parzania get preachy at any point?
No it doesn’t. We were very careful about it. The only preachy part is when the American is narrating the Indian History in 30 secs and that is done
for the western audiences to understand the history of India. They won’t understand who a Hindu is, a Muslim is or who a Parsi is. This film
otherwise doesn’t get preachy because we are telling a story of a family and not showing a documentary on the riots. And around that whatever
happens, we have tried to create. The film is not about the Gujarat violence but about the trauma of the family that suffers due to the Gujarat
violence. Gujarat is the cause and not the reason for the film.
| The film is not about the Gujarat violence but about the trauma of the
family that suffers due to the Gujarat violence. Gujarat is the cause and not the reason for the film. |
How was the casting of the film done?
Initially, I had no clue as to who would be doing this film because I just wanted to do a small little film to share my thoughts. But then when the script
was ready, I went to Shenaz Patel, a friend of mine and Paresh Rawal and both of them said that the only person who can play the character of
Cyrus is Naseeruddin Shah. This film requires not just performance but also pain and there is no one who can do it better than Naseer. I went to
Nasser bhai and he agreed immediately. He said that he will do it provided that the screenplay is correct and not propagandist. Then we went back
and forth on the screenplay for about six months and finally we got what we wanted.
My friend Justin Rajguru was managing Sarika’s work. He said why don’t you meet her, she is making a comeback after 18 years and she is looking
to do meaningful cinema. I didn’t know what her stand was going to be on the subject, since a lot of people avoid doing such films especially during
their comeback. When I met her, the sensitivity she showed on the subject was phenomenal. She is a mother herself and therefore she could portray
that pain very well through her performance.
| This film required not just performance but also pain something
which only Naseer can do. |
Tell us about the kids in the film.
Oh, both of them are sweet hearts. Parzaan Dastur plays Parzaan in the film and there is girl called Pearl Barsiwalla. It is Pearl’s first film but if you
watch the film, you won’t feel like she is facing the camera for the first time. Her performance is phenomenal in the film.
How was the experience of shooting the film, since you must’ve had to recreate many scary and violent situations?
We shot some part in real locations and some in studious also. We wanted to keep it a very quite affair and not publicize it with mahurat’s and so on.
Subject like these will always face protests from such groups and we didn’t want such protests from people unless they understood what the film is
about.
If you see, the film Water was given such hard headed response that they had to go out and shoot the film in Sri Lanka. But now the whole of
India is cheering because Water has become an Oscar award nominee. We just wanted to avoid such situations.
| Water was given such hard headed response that they had to shoot
it in Sri Lanka but now the whole of India is cheering because Water has become an Oscar award nominee. |
The film has been shot in Sync-Sound?
Yes, the entire film has been shot in Sync-Sound with only one part of the film being dubbed. My sound recordist has done an excellent job
irrespective of us shooting in open locations in India. In fact, when people in Hollywood noticed this, they said Wow! They said if in India you can
shoot and have sync-sound with this quality, then it is first rate.
Was it difficult to convince the producers since you were touching a very different subject with Parzania?
The way I looked at this film, the way the producers and even Naseer looked at this film, the commercial aspect of it can always be dealt later. If I
have to make money, there are many outlets to do so; there are many countries to make money. I am not worried about the revenues, it is a very
script driven film. In fact, the producer of the film K.B.Sareen has also put up a distribution company now with me, to distribute this film. We are
distributing this film ourselves because people are worried about commercial and non commercial stuff, except for PVR and INOX, who are handling
certain territories.
How do you think will the Indian audiences react to this film?
I think they should react very well. We had 3-4 screens in India and plus lot of people from the industry like Aishwarya, Dimple Kapadia and Aamir
Khan have seen it and they have reacted very positively to it.
Also globally, when the film was played in festivals, people reacted very positively. So, by and large, I think Indians will relate to this film very well.
And though Parzania, is in English, people will understand the film.
| Aishwarya, Dimple Kapadia and Aamir Khan have seen it and they
have reacted very positively to it |
Does the film bear resemblance with Mani Ratnam’s Bombay, since it too dealt with a similar concept?
Mani is a great filmmaker and any comparison with him is very flattering. But the fact is that, this film is the story about this family alone. Bombay
was more of a love story, ours is not. Also, my film has no songs. So, at that level, it is very different. Also, since there is no songs etcetera, this film
has more realism.
Tell about the music of this film.
This film has Zakir Hussain’s music which is very new style of music. He has blended different instruments. He has used Persian music, to Iranian,
to Sultan Khan’s Sarangi, to Churasia’s Flute to Saxophone and of course Zakir himself on Tabla. The music is in the background and Zakir has
done a wonderful job.
Both you and Sarika are reportedly nominated for National Awards for this film. But this year the final results haven’t been declared yet. Any
update on the Awards?
I don’t know myself; I wish you could update me on this. I think on August 15 last year, some newspaper said that we have won the National Award.
But after that there has been no update. There has been some court case relating to Anand Patwardhan’s film since it also deals with a sensitive
issue.
But if we have won it, we are more than happy. I am glad that jury liked our film. It will really be a victory for independent cinema.
The film has been through several film festivals. How was the response and how did you feel with the global visibility?
We got phenomenal response. Standing ovations at every festival, followed by great question answer sessions whether it’s Rome or Italy or
Bangkok or Korea. People liked the film irrespective of whether they understand the politics of India or religious undertones or even the language
because I think it struck a chord with them at a human level and I hope that happens in India to.
| Parzania has got standing ovations in Rome, Italy, Bangkok and
Korea |
Filmmakers today are getting away with escapist films. What do you think about making a sensible film such as Parzania?
We as Indians eat all types of food from pizzas to dal chawal. So I believe the audiences must be exposed to all sorts of films. All films are
good in their own respect. I made this film because I believed in it. When I started making this film, I did not go ahead with “sensible cinema” in mind.
I thought I need to convey a message to the audience through my work.
If we speak trade wise, what are your expectations?
I want people to watch the film because of the content and not because it has to increase the Box Office revenue. For me, if the film runs for one
day, one week or one year, it doesn’t matter. I would like the film to run well of course, but if not cinema, there are many other outlets for people to
watch this film. I am not afraid of the Box office and whatever revenue it gets, I’ll be fine with it.
We are not worried about recovering money from India, but we want people to see it because this issue is of concern to every Indian. Money can be
recovered from anywhere else.
| We are not worried about recovering money from India, but we want
people to see it because this issue is of concern to every Indian. |
For your next, will you go the Parzania path or try the Kehta Hai Dil Baar Baar way?
I don’t know. At the moment I am completely busy with Parzania. Soon, I will start with the next one. I don’t know what kind of film I will do
though. This film is so intense that it gave me blood pressure, diabetes and what not (laughs). It may not be as intense like this, if it is; I just hope I
survive at the end of it.
Talking about Indians, how do you think are we shaping up?
I am loving the way experimental cinema is shaping. There are people who are trying to do different things and trying to break the system and make
content driven rather than star driven films. I am liking the way cinema is made, whether you call it cross-over or desi cinema or whatever. A name is
just an identity which one gives but the cinema does not change. It’s very encouraging to see that people are going to theatres to watch this
cinema. Whether they like it or not is different issue, but they are watching it and that is important. If people spend money and come to watch it, I
think that motivates us to do better.
|
‘Parzania’ well received at I.F.F.I.
