Parzania, a movie on Gujarat riot, stirs controversy

Parzania, a movie based on real life story of a family, which lost their son in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots, screened in multiplex theatres across the nation, January 27, to packed crowds but has hit a roadblock in Gujarat where the Hindu rightwing activists have called for its ban.

Multiplex owners in Gujarat have refused to screen Los Angeles–based Indian filmmaker Rahul Dholakia's 'Parzania' fearing vandalism from the Hindu rightwing outfits – the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) – but the director has vowed that he would approach single screen theater owners in the state.

"In Gujarat I had a meeting with the multiplex owners...They have unanimously decided that they will not screen my movie," Dholakia said.

"The multiplex owners gave different kinds of excuses. First, they said I should show it to the Bajrang Dal and get their approval. Then they said if they ran the movie, people might vandalize their theaters. Now, the other option with me is to speak to the single theater owners," he added.

"The movie is based on 2002 Gujarat riots. It shows that Muslims suffered a lot during the riots. We are scared that after watching this movie, there may be violence," said Manubhai Patel, president of the Gujarat Multiplex Owners Association, fearing that the movie could ignite communal violence.

"The movie has got enough adverse publicity. And, as I am told by media reports that the film is on the Gujarat riots and shows the killing of members of one community by people from another community, I feel that if screened, the film would create law and order problems. Despite security assured by the City Police Commissioner we are scared that violence may not be controlled and have therefore decided not to release the movie in Gujarat," he told the media after a meeting with Dholakia.

Vice president Mahendra Goswami said that the body's decision to hold back Parzania from being shown in the state's theaters was because "the general public can be disturbed" by it.

"Are they so insecure that they feel threatened by an English language movie?" Dholakia wondered, questioning the integrity of the people living in Gujarat.

"These people are successful Hindu businessmen and if they are so scared of the Bajrang Dal then think about the others. I told them that police were ready to provide protection, but in spite of that they refused to screen the movie," he added.

"Quite frankly, we made 'Parzania' in English because we never thought it would be released in India. I'm surprised that the censors cleared the movie for release here. They passed it with very minor audio cuts. They somewhere saw the sincerity of the endeavour," Dholakia said, adding, "Surprisingly though, the Indian censor board (Central Board of Film Certification) has allowed the explicit dialogues to remain."

"They [multiplex owners] wanted me to include Bajrang Dal members in the meeting but I refused. It's a violation of our democratic rights. This is an insult to India. Here is a state that doesn't recognize the Censor Board. It is an absolutely lawless place," Dholakia said, warning about the clout the Hindu rightwing activists wielded in the state.

"This was a larger conspiracy. There is someone else who is involved in the conspiracy. Is the foundation of secular, vibrant and democratic Gujarat so weak that one movie can shake the entire foundation?" he said, hinting that the ban had political patronage, without naming anyone.

"It is very important that Gujarat should see the movie because the movie is about Gujarat, the boy was lost here and his family lives here," he added, noting that he did not cut down any scene from the movie to appease Hindu sentiments.

"I never agreed to cut the scenes. How can I do that? I was told that the Bajrang Dal would see the movie and decide what could be shown and what could not be shown. I refused to accept their judgment. They are not the authority," he said, adding, "People need to be reminded of how wrong they can go in dealing with the communal issue. The hatred still simmers under the surface in Gujarat. But mine isn't a political movie. It's the story of a family torn apart by events they can't control."

"Parzania was a story that had to be told. As a Gujarati I felt strongly about what happened there after the Godhra incident. My family has been actively involved in socio–historical issues in the state, whether it was the Quit India movement or the Gujarat Maha Sabha. You could say Parzania is my initiation into the family's constant concerns," Dholakia said.

"What happened after Godhra cannot be ignored or suppressed. When I used to go to Ahmedabad, I always used to meet this happy and peaceful Parsi family. Then Godhra happened. My friends Dara Mody and Rupa Mody losing their son in the riots was the trigger story but the movie got bigger with research. It's basically an anti–riots and anti–hate film," he said.

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 the Mody couple, Azhar Mody, was one of them.

The movie was completed way back in 2004.

"But we kept it under wraps because of the sensitive nature of the theme. We didn't want any controversies. Then the film was stuck with the censors for about six months," Dholakia said.

Rejecting speculations that Parzania might be accused of a distinctly pro–Muslim leaning, showing the other side entirely as 'saffron' savages, Dholakia said, "I'm not a pro–Muslim or anti–Hindu in Parzania. I'm against fundamentalism. If you see the history of the post–Godhra Ahmedabad, you'd see that there was mass scale genocide against Muslims. I think it would've happened regardless of Godhra."

Dholakia, himself a Gujarati, said he had not made the movie for political propaganda or to make money. "It is a very powerful film based on a human tragedy and I made the film considering it to be my moral and social responsibility," he said.

He said soon after the riots, some Muslims based in the United Kingdom offered him money to make a movie on the subject, but he refused, as he did not want it to become propaganda material for any section of the community.

Dholakia, while directing the movie, did not fail to add the smallest of the details that would present the horrors of the riots to the audience. "In the scene where flags are being put to segregate Hindu houses in Ahmedabad, we had to make a call between saffron and yellow. I stuck to our research findings and opted for saffron. If the incidents need to be told, then it has to be in the right way," he said, adding that the movie was not against any individual or party. It only attempted to depict how the common people were affected during communal riots, he said.

According to Dholakia, making the movie was his "moral and social responsibility."

"If I had chosen to keep quiet about the Gujarat genocide, I would have been as responsible for what happened as the people who actually perpetrated the crime," he said.

"Parzania belongs to an entirely different genre, and it will have gradual success. I am prepared to wait," he said, adding that he had other options in his mind, including, releasing the movie on the Internet, arranging for private shows or bringing out compact discs (CDs) or DVDs, if the exhibitors refused to show it.

"Parzania isn't raking up old wounds. It reminds people of how a crisis can occur to the most unsuspecting people. Apart from that, the film sticks rigorously to the facts. Both the sides are shown to be at fault. We haven't overstepped the mark. No one knows where the incident at Godhra began. It's all speculation," said veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah who plays the lead role in the movie, regretting the unofficial ban in Gujarat.

"I as an Indian Muslim have never felt short–changed or victimised. I don't think the majority of Muslims and Hindus feel any grudge against one another," he said. "By and large, these communal riots are not spontaneous eruptions of hatred. They're planned and motivated. In Parzania all we're saying is the guilty should be brought to book and the innocent shouldn't suffer."

"At this juncture in my career I'm not looking to give great performances. I feel fatigued carrying a film on my shoulders. I've done enough of that. I now want to do projects that I'll enjoy, movies that need to be made and which need my support," he said, adding, "Parzania was one such project. My heart went out to the parents of the boy who got lost."

"Parzania shouldn't be perceived as a work of art. Its flaws should be overlooked for its sincerity of purpose," said Shah, recipient of several awards for his contribution to movie industry.

Meanwhile, chairperson of the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Sharmila Tagore said that all cinema halls screening the movie in Gujarat could be given a security cover.

"The police have to provide security. They have to take responsibility. It is the responsibility of the police to enforce law and order," she said.

The Censor Board chief added that a lot of money has been put into the distribution of the movie and it would go waste if the movie was banned from being screened in the state.

Displeased by the ban in Gujarat, Tagore said, "Sometimes it is to appease a certain section of the audience, and sometimes it is so that the state government doesn't look bad. They feel that it will be detrimental to their image or something."

"They have a lackadaisical attitude," Tagore said hinting that the government had been too soft on those who threatened to disrupt the screenings of the movie.

Parzania has also found support from Bollywood, Mumbai's Hindi movie industry which is estimated at US$ 800 million.

"The Hindi film industry will stop releasing movie in Gujarat if Parzania is not allowed to be screened in that state," noted director and activist Mahesh Bhatt warned.

"Film personalities like Madhur Bhandarkar, Anurag Kashyap, Amit Khanna, Ashok Pandit and others have already extended their support to this move. I will be speaking to other filmmakers and enlisting their support too," Bhatt said.

"We will not let the Bajrang Dal run a parallel government. The ban imposed by it on the movie is an act of terror and we will oppose it," he added.

Bhatt said in the past Bollywood had remained silent when freedom of expression was attacked. "But silence on the issue of Parzania will be deplorable and unacceptable."

"I have fought several battles on behalf of the industry in the past, but the aristocrats among us have kept quiet. But if they continue to remain mum, then their conduct will be worse than that of the Bajrang Dal," he said.

Ashok Pandit, a producer and member of the managing committee of the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA), said efforts were being made to get an appointment with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and seek her intervention in the matter. "We are determined to fight it out. How can anyone stop a movie's screening once it is cleared by the Censor Board?" he wondered.

He added that veteran actors–turned–politicians Shatrughan Sinha and Hema Malini would also be requested to take up the issue with their party's government in Gujarat.

The movie is also gathering support from social activists and movie lovers across the country.

"A movie 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," said Rupa Gulab, an author.

There is also 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 movie is based. And also to the hundreds of other families in Gujarat and elsewhere who have suffered because of mindless violence and hatred," said documentary filmmaker and social activist Stalin K. who has penned the petition.

"Those who are opposing the screening of Parzania obviously have something to hide," felt 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 lamented 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," he said.

Fr. Cedric Prakash of Prashant – a Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace – has condemned the ban on screening of the movie in Gujarat, saying, "The news that Parzania, a movie by Rahul Dholakia will not be screened by the multiplex owners of Ahmedabad is simply shocking."

"The cold fact that an individual or a small group can terrorise ordinary citizens in this State, speaks volumes of the break–down of the law and order mechanism. It is also a clear indication that the ordinary citizens are denied their rights and freedoms. For them, the so–called 'vibrancy' of this State, is a sheer sham...a total falsehood," he remarked.

The human rights leader suggested to the citizens of Gujarat to "now boldly come out to protest the violation of their fundamental rights and make every possible effort to ensure that Parzania is screened everywhere and that as many as possible are able to see it."

"Citizens from all walks of life must now openly come out and protest against those fundamentalist and fascist forces who continue to control our lives," he added.

In spite of initial doubts entertained by movie distributors and trade analysts across India about the commercial success of the movie, the movie has been reported to be doing well in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Noida, Indore, Bangalore and Pune.

"The audience turnout has been good especially in Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata," said Saurabh Varma, vice president of programming and distribution, Inox.

"The movie was running house full during weekends at most of our properties," said Devang Sampat, general manager of marketing, Cinemax.

"The response has been encouraging and we are expecting a bigger turnout in the coming days," said Tushar Dhingra, COO of Adlabs Films.

"It is an English–language movie catering only to a socially aware and intellectual audience, which rarely gets swayed by negative or positive publicity," said trade analyst Amod Mehra.

Movie buffs who have seen the movie also insist that a movie like Parzania was long overdue. "The movie dares to bare the truth without trying to sanitize it for popular consumption," said Shareen Sharma, a budding writer and poet.

"Parzania is a story based on real life incident. Truth must be told and should not be hidden," added Rohit Gupta, a frequent movie–goer.

About Parzania

The movie is based on the true story of thirteen–year–old Azhar Mody, who disappeared during the Gujarat riots that erupted in 2002 after 59 Hindu pilgrims were burnt alive in a train, allegedly by a Muslim mob. Several official inquiries have, however, failed to determine the cause of the train fire.

About 2,500 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the Gujarat riots that followed. Gujarat is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was been accused by Human Rights groups worldwide of turning a blind eye to the killing of the Muslims in the riot.