Where is my Parzania?. Review on Parzania

I should have written about this movie long back but I was so stunned by what I saw that I could not even think of thinking about it… But the Truth has to be told, even if it makes us uncomfortable because maybe this

will ensure that the Truth may not be so uncomfortable the next time around.

Parzania is a story of heaven and hell and how loosely they are inter-connected… it’s the story of a child, his aspirations, his dreams, his world and the shattering of all of them… It’s an account of a country tha was and a society that is…. Parzania is about Truth and accepting that we have all failed the Truth….

A lot has been said about Godhra and the riots that happened in 2002…. A lot has been written about the partisan attitude of the Government, the bias of the police and the hooliganism of the Parishad and its cronies… but what has been left unsaid is the plight of the commoner…. The man on the street… the man who suffered… the man who died… and the man, who saw his family members being raped, tortured, maimed and killed. Whether the riots were a spontaneous reaction to a true terror or an engineered response to an engineered incident is out of the purview of my review, about what I wish to write about, but there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that whatever happened was definitely not what should have happened. The points raised by Corin make it quite evident that to an extent the incident was not what it’s made out to be but that a deeper and a deadlier truth remains hidden beneath it.

Parzania is a story of parents who suffered, families that

were uprooted and their values that were suddenly put in question. It’s not a rant against any community or a statement about any community – the Hindu mobs in Parzania could easily be substituted for any other mobs anywhere in this world… it’s about the mentality that engulfs these mobs, it’s about how you and

I can suddenly become ‘us’ and ‘them’…. It’s about how friends can suddenly become enemies and how betrayal can become a norm of reality….  It’s about the crystal clear fact that Mobs do

not have any identity except the bestiality that’s their hallmark and it’s about the fact that nothing on such a magnitude can ever be spontaneous whatever the propaganda machine may say.

Naseeruddin Shah is mind-blowing….. the struggle of a father could not be captured better than the way in which he has enacted it… the looking for solace in religion… the refusal to accept the truth of what could

have happened… the realization of how things could have been worse and the frustration of being able to do nothing about it…. These are not easily portrayed… Naseer has proved why he deserves to be called one of the greatest actors to ever grace the Indian silver screen…. The eyes speak… as does the

face…When he cries… he’s not the only one who cries… we all cry with him… for him and for all who suffered along with him.

Sarika has come a long way… I never expected to be enamoured

of her performance considering her to be nothing but a glamour doll but I have been proved wrong…. From her two-bit role in Babul to her power-packed performance in Parzania, the actress has proved that she is a brilliant actress after all… the mother of a missing son, a mother of a petrified daughter, none

of this could have been better portrayed than the way Sarika has portrayed it… Her’s is the eye that mocks our silence, Her’s is the face that delves into our conscience and Her’s is the voice that questions our immobility. Her silence questions our comfort and makes us uncomfortable.

Corin Nemec represents the outsider’s view of India and Gujarat in 2002…. An American who has come to India to try and make sense of himself and a man called Gandhi and finds him being defiled and disgraced in his own

land of birth…a man who’s disillusioned with his own life and finds himself with warm friends in India and is suddenly forced to stand witness to their destruction at the hands of a state-sponsored pogrom. The actor manages to impress us with his no-nonsense style and is the board of conscience in the

movie.

Raj Zutshi as the Muslim who’s radicalized as a result of the riots pitches in with an excellent performance. The actor has grown tremendously since his early side-kick days of QSQT but needs a bigger canvas to portray his performance and intensity. The role of a Muslim seeking vengeance could have easily been trivialized and made commonplace but Raj ensures that the performance is not wasted.

All the 3 child artistes employed in the movie have done an excellent job. Although Pearl Barsiwala and Parzun Dastur both manage to enter our hearts with their silent and beautiful portrayal of the protagonists. Dilshad

and Parzan, I was very impressed by the young guy who has performed the role of the newspaper guy. The silence of the boy is infectious as is his mature handling of the role. I wish I knew the name of the actor who has performed this role as well as the one who performed the role of Chaman. Sheeba Chaddha also performs her role with conviction.

Rahul Dholakia should be complimented for his vision and

courage. We desperately need more directors of integrity so that more dark periods of our psyche can be laid bare for us to see and understand. I specially like the scene where Naseer is trying to understand the fate of his son and we see vultures hovering around him. The only grouse I have with him is

why we need to make this movie into English… Did the Americans make ‘The Last Emperor’ in Chinese or ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ in Arabic? We need to respect our own language if we want others to respect it as well….

And so another riot happens, a community is wronged, it decides to take corrective action and another riot occurs… and so it goes on again and again… How many times do we have to see the cycle repeat before we open up our eyes and understand that when all dust has settled, we have hurt only ourselves and no one else…? It’s time we understood that Parzania is being lost and Parzan’s are dying in hundreds and thousands… the time has come to take a stand… the question is will we?

We can still save Parzania… the question is will we?

The future of India and Humanity depends on this question and … Us!