Parzania

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Parzania

Directed by	Rahul Dholakia
Produced by	Rahul Dholakia Kamal Patel
Written by	David N. Donihue, Rahul Dholakia
Starring	Naseeruddin Shah Sarika Corin Nemec
Music by	Zakir Hussain
Release date(s)	January 26, 2007
Language	English
IMDb profile

Parzania (2007) is an award-winning Indian film drama directed by Rahul Dholakia, written by David N. Donihue, Rahul Dholakia starring Naseeruddin Shah ,Sarika and Corin Nemec. The film, inspired by a true story, is about a 10 year old Parsi boy, Parzaan who gets lost in the communal riots in Gujarat on 28th February, 2002. It is based on and inspired by the true incidents that took place in Ahmedabad during the riots. The film is in English.

1 Plot
2 Release controversy
3 Awards
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Allan (Corin Nemec), an American, arrives in Ahmedabad searching for answers, praying to find internal peace and understand the world and his troubled life. Allan has chosen India as his school and Gandhi as his subject. It’s here that he meets Cyrus and his loving family. Cyrus (Naseeruddin Shah) lives with his wife Shernaz (Sarika) , son Parzan (Parzan Dastur) and daughter Dilshad (Pearl Barsiwala). They are Parsis or followers of Zoroastrianism. Through Cyrus's family, and the teachings of an old Indian scholar, Allan starts to find peace of mind, right before the rest of the country loses its sanity. One fine morning a train carrying 58 Hindus returning from a pilgrimage called "Karsevaks" is burnt allegedly by Muslim extremists.

Within 24 hours of the incident, riots break up in Ahmadabad. Innocent men, women and children are killed in one of the largest acts of communal sectarian violence.In the midst of the murder, terror and violence, little Parzan who is mistaken for a Muslim disappears.

In the aftermath of the riots, Cyrus (Parzan's father) searches for his missing child while at the same time fighting for his own sanity. Allan who originally came on a soul searching mission now battles to uncover the reason behind the mass murder in an effort to try and make some sense of the incident. What he goes on to find find shocks him. Other people too start to question the 'official' explanations they are being given through the Indian news and consequently, a Human Rights Commission is formed. But will the truth finally be out? Will it remain concealed? Does the truth matter to those it did not happen to? Does any of this even matter to the distraught family that now just aims to find their lost child?

[edit] Release controversy

Because the film was about communal riots in Gujarat, the film was purposefully not released in Gujarat. The film shows a Muslim locality being attacked by a Hindu mob.