Bringing religion to reel

Arthouse cinema

It’s not necessary that every child has to follow the family business, that too with unstinted love and passion. And then proceed to carve a niche for oneself and create one’s own identity. Director, actor, producer, film educationist Oorvazi Irani did just that. Apart from following her family genes, she also crafted her own space in an industry which is predominantly male-dominated.

An independent filmmaker, Oorvazi has released her first feature film, The Path of Zarathustra. And the 79-minute-long film has already caught the attention of viewers when it was shown to a select few in Mumbai. The film is about Parsi community and their ancient faith Zoroastrainism, as founded by first Prophet Zarathustra.

“Though all the main characters in my film are Parsis as it’s based on the lifestyle of Parsis, I would like to emphasise that it’s a film through which every religion and faith needs to look at its archaic beliefs and rituals. My film is about contemporary society and questioning their fossilised idea. Through the film, I want to convey the message that the time has come for everyone to adapt to changing times and life,” explains the 30-plus Mumbai-based Oorvazi.

Oorvazi is the daughter of filmmaker Sorab Irani, who started his career as a manager in Himalaya films, a production and distribution house of late Dev Anand and his two director brothers Chetan and Vijay Anand. He later got associated with European television and Channel Four and made a few TV serials for the channel. That is how Oorvazi inherited her genes of filmmaking.

“If I hadn’t been a filmmaker, I would have been an artist,” proclaims Oorvazi, who learnt Bharatanatyam from her aunt Dr Khurshid Shroff.

Though this is her first feature film, she has made two short films — Mamaiji and K-file. Mamaiji was an ode to her grandmother and the 10-minute-long K-file was the fictionalised story about terrorist Kasab and the socio-political problem haunting India even today. Written by the famous writer of books, TV dramas and stage plays Farrukh Dhondy, it created a ripple with its online release.

Dhondy has even written The Path of Zarathustra. She admits that a lot of research was done for the movie, and since both the writer and the producer-director-actor too were Parsis, their own life experiences were added to the story. “But the film is a complete fiction” she stresses.

“Initially I had toyed with the idea of making it into a documentary film. But then, however good a documentary film is, it has its own limitations and I wanted a bigger audience and a bigger film,” recalls the young director.

This film is about the journey of a Zoroastrian woman. After the death of her grandfather in a remote village, she travels to Mumbai to the place of her aunt’s adopted son. The story moves back and forth, from the history of religion and Parsi priests to present day. With Dhondy on board, the story had to be great.

She admitted that with Dhondy on board, and also the background of her family production house SBI Impresario Pvt. Ltd., she found many things easy to handle, including the technicians who had worked with her father and also with her during her short films. Though funding wasn’t a cake walk, she managed to get the required funding within a month. “Not through crowd sourcing!” she clarified. “But from friends and relatives, and of course, Dad.”

Another advantage Oorvazi had while directing and producing the film is her background of being an acting coach and film educationalist. She is the pioneer in reaching Michael Chekhov’s acting technique to India. As an acting coach, she has taught this technique to her students, many of whom have now gone for advance studies to the US. She has even brought out a DVD of the same title.

While making this film, she also found her acting skills. “I am amazed when I see myself acting.” She recalled the shooting of some scenes on Marine Drive of Mumbai in the morning natural light. “Me draped in white sari looking like a typical village Parsi woman with a trunk in one hand and an umbrella in another was awesome. Many passersby weren’t too sure of what exactly was happening. I really would like to evolve as an artist,” she giggles.

Irani has a fascination for Iranian films. “May be it’s my roots, but I love the way they make their films which are powerful, emotional and at the same time meaningful. Next, I would like to explore these kinds of Indian films!”