Though multiplexes have refused to screen 'Parzania', Rahul Dholakia is now planning to approach single screen theatres in Gujarat.
Multiplexes in Gujarat have refused to screen Rahul Dholakia’s 'Parzania' fearing vandalism from Hindu fundamentalists. But the filmmaker is now planning to approach single screen theatres in the state.
“The multiplex owners, whose businesses are controlled by the state government, wanted me to show the film to Bajrang Dal activists and get their approval. I refused, since I don’t consider the Dal to be a bigger authority than the Censor Board,” Dholakia told DNA on Tuesday.
Lead actor Naseeruddin Shah feels that there is nothing controversial about ‘Parzania’. “Our intention is not to open old wounds or to create a controversy. The film does not point fingers at anyone. It simply states the facts while narrating the story of a Parsi couple who lost their son during the Gujarat riots,” Shah says.
The movie is gathering support from social activists and film lovers across the country. “A film like Parzania needed to made and I am glad it got made. The unofficial ban only highlights the Gujarat government’s need to pretend that the riots didn’t happen,” says Rupa Gulab, an author. Then there is an online petition put up by Drishti — an Ahmedabad-based media, arts and human rights organisation. Addressed to the Gujarat government, the petition condemns the state’s stance against Parzania. “We want to expresses solidarity to Dara and Rupa Mody-whose son is missing since the 2002 massacre and on whose experience the film is based. And also to the hundreds of other families in Gujarat and elsewhere who have suffered because of mindless violence and hatred,” says documentary filmmaker and social activist Stalin K who has penned the petition.
The Mody family lived in the Muslim-dominated Gulbarg Society — a residential complex in Ahmedabad, that was set on fire in the riots. Thirty-eight persons, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were killed in the blaze while several others went missing. The then 13-year-old son of Mody couple-Azhar Mody was one of them.
“Those who are opposing the screening of Parzania obviously have something to hide,” feels human rights activist Teesta Setalvad, who has worked extensively to bring the culprits of the Gujarat genocide to book. Another human rights activist, Jatin Desai laments that the apathy displayed by the common man has resulted in the arm-twisting tactics being employed by fundamentalists in Gujarat. “The citizens need to be more vocal especially since the fundamentalists in the state in no way represent the common man on the street.”
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