New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) Bollywood provided a hilarious take on Parsis with the 1978 film “Khatta Meetha” that starred Ashok Kumar and Pearl Padamsee. Thirty years later Sooni Taraporewala’s “Little Zizou” is another humorous insight into the community, taking digs at their stereotypical oddities.
“Khaata Meetha” highlighted the biggest dilemma among Parsis – their problem with inter-caste marriage. An offspring from such a union is considered to be a non-Parsi, resulting in their fast dwindling numbers, which is pegged at about 100,000 now in India.
But “Little Zizou” talks about religious fundamentalism and reform, while putting the spotlight on traits unique to the community.
One did have Basu Chatterjee’s “Baaton Baaton Mein” (1979), but that was more focussed on relationships. Since then all movies on Parsis have brushed aside the comic punch to portray the community’s angst with grim dramas like “Pestonjee” (1988), “Percy” (1990), “1947: Earth” (1998) and “Being Cyrus” (2005).
“Thematically, Parsis in films have been a more modest and serious vein with only two films ‘Khatta Meetha’ and ‘Baaton Baaton Mein’ being made on a lighter note than the handful of the rest. While the former is remembered for its comic genius, the latter was a mixed-affair in terms of comic touches,” said noted film historian Gautam Kaul.
Photographer-writer Taraporewala, who made her directorial debut with “Little Zizou” after writing Mira Nair’s acclaimed films like “Salaam Bombay!” and “Mississippi Masala”, has woven together every possible trait of the community.
For example, Parsis’ habit of boasting about every little achievement is lucidly shown in “Little Zizou”. This includes the presence of a Zubin Mehta portrait in every Parsi house and the oft-repeated talk about Indira Gandhi being married to a Parsi.