Parzania

Synopsis

Parzania is the story of an event that changed the country and the world forever. An American,Allan Webbings (Corin Nemec) arrives in Ahmedabad city. Allan has been searching for answers, praying to find both internal peace and understanding of the horrors that religious difference can create. For this, Allan has chosen India and Gandhi as his subject. It's here that he meets Cyrus (Naseeruddin Shah), the local projectionist who brings the young and troubled intellectual into his beautiful family. Cyrus is a Parsi, he has a beautiful wife, Shernaz (Sarika), a practical woman who after eleven years still can't resist his charisma and charm; then there are the two children – Parzan (Parzan Dastur) an imaginative ten year old that has developed his own world, the world of ‘Parzania’, where the buildings are made of chocolate and the mountains of ice cream, a world that only his eight year old little sister Dilshad (Pearl Barsiwalla) truly understands. Through Cyrus's family, Allan finds his peace. One morning, the beauty and peace that India is so famous for, is rocked beyond measure, as a bomb explodes in a train at Godhra killing Hindus. Within 24 hours, thousands of Muslims are slaughtered, making that day one of the largest acts of communal violence the country has ever seen. And in the midst of the terror and violence, Parzan is missing. While Cyrus fights for his own sanity and searches for his child, Alan battles to uncover the truth behind the riots. Parzania is inspired by a true story...

When 9-11 happened, I was shooting my first feature, a comedy, in New York. It was horrific to see how much hate and anger can change people’s lives. This of course was followed by the attack on Iraq/ Afghanistan etc. We in India have been aware of political crimes and the world is quite aware about the acts of genocide committed by Political Dictators. So when Godhra happened, and then Ahmedabad and the rest of Gujarat, my heart sunk. Even more shattering was that my friend (whose story it is) was a victim of the Gujarat riots and his entire family is suffering- because their son has been missing since 2002 - and no body cares. So when I heard about this, I felt morally and socially responsible to bring their (and like them many others) story out to the world.

From the beginning, we knew we were working on a very sensitive subject, and whatever we did and said, would have social impacts of some kind, if not to the society at large, at least to the families of those victims. So we had to be correct (as far as possible) in writing the script, and our research had to be just perfect. It took us over a year and half to research the film - for script, costumes, sets and also sound! That process was really intense- and often the visuals of the train and the riots would haunt us- I don’t remember having slept more that two hours during the three years that it took me to make the film…

I was certain that I wanted ‘Hindu’ Funding (else the film be publicized as a ‘propaganda’ film.) Also, I wanted it to be a film without song, dance and melodrama so I didn’t even consider making the rounds of the typical Bollywood Producers. KB Sareen a man in the Insurance Business in America and Kamal Patel, a Businessman from New Jersey, blindly trusted me and backed the project.

I think casting has played an important role in the film- and not just the leads- because we had to get everyone who spoke English and looked real- there is no make up and no fantasy element in the film except for the child’s imagination; so even the day players (extras as we call in Bombay) were theatre artists and had rehearsals before we shot. (we shot live-sync sound).

Coming to the actors, quite honestly, you don’t direct a legend like Naseer…What you can try and do is motivate him enough and then wait and watch the magic unfold on screen. And I am so glad I worked with Sarika on this film- she had not only the sensitivity to play the mother of two (and one of them is missing in the riots), but also the charisma to carry off the elegance of a Parsi woman. Since Parzania was one of the first run of features she was coming back with, she has put in her heart and soul into her character, rehearsing with me every day for at least a month before the shoot. Those who have seen Parzania, unanimously agree she is absolutely brilliant.

Directing the children was not that simple, and particularly in this film where you have to make them emote (it was Pearl’s first film and she is remarkable) -- you have to give them the situation but cannot give them too much details because it could affect them emotionally. I had the parents read the script before they agreed to let their children act in the film. They should know what the film is about and they have to be comfortable doing it. Also, since children have a very short attention span (you can’t take more than 2 -3 takes or else they will start faking), we tried to keep them in their natural spirits as far as possible. And for me they were my biggest stress relief on the shoot!

Since our tag line for the film is heaven and hell on earth, we had to have three distinct styles in Parzania. Very classic Hollywood for the beautiful world of Parzan and his family before the riots, switching to the Cinema verite style, during the riots - to really make you feel part of the action; and then finally starkness to show the family’s life after the riots. So we have experimented in that way and I think it has worked. The Editing is simple and linear - we have not got into gimmicks and jump cuts to make it look ‘slick’; because that’s not the mood of the film- its a narrative drama and it opens leisurely and before you can realize you feel as if you know the family and the characters around them.

As the film began taking shape on the Editable table, I was nervous. Nervous because I was answerable to many people - The family whose story it is… the people who were victims of the riots… the people who will see this film… and my family and myself. But I think we have succeeded if the response to the film on the Festival Circuit is to go by.

We premiered at Pusan in Korea (Asias largest film Festival), then we went to Palm Springs, Bangkok, Norway, Los Angeles, New York and of course India (Goa and Kerala). We have had full houses everywhere and the film has been appreciated universally, because it goes above the ‘Hindu –Muslim’ problem and deals with the core problem - the affect such violence has on a family. So it has worked at all levels - and internationally even if people don’t understand the politics or history of India, they have given it a standing ovation. The film should hit theatres in India soon. Let’s hope the people get to see it.

Finally, I am glad I made this film. It was a story that needed to be told; an issue which needed to be addressed. If we want any society to progress there has to be healthy discussion. We can not solve problems by simply ignoring them.

Rahul Dholakia has a Masters in Communications from New York. He has made documentaries on various issues from hate crimes in New Jersey to the story of American teenage parents, winning awards for some. He is one of the founding members of Naya Andaz, a local talent dance show in New Jersey, since 1993. His First Feature Film was Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar. Parzania is his second Feature. At present, he is working on a script with Paresh Rawal about the NRI community in America. To know more about the film, go to www.parzania.com.