He’s a 3rd-generation actor making a living in TV. It started with the role of ‘Pompous Face’ Behzad Dabu is an actor...
Film Articles
Pastailo Pappo: How to unravel this cine mystery ?
The long history of the Parsi community in the city has another interesting page added to its chapters. The Film...
Parsi films that never made it to the big screen
Here are some Parsi films that never made it to the big screen…not forgetting the classic Shakespearean remakes: Rumi and Juliet Two Gentlemen of Udwada Much Bhonu about Nothing The Taming of...
Film shoot turns nightmare for Khareghat Colony
For 4 nights residents of Khareghat Colony have been kept awake; film crew say they have Parsi Panchayat permission By Lata Mishra | Mumbai Mirror Nowadays, if you drive by Pedder Road at night, you...
Vivan Bhathena: Cine Artist
Blessed with boyish good looks, this 32-year-old has some movies and TV roles to his credit, but he feels it’s not enough. "The craving for good parts will always be there. Though my...
Paranormal experience with Ragini MMS actress Kainaz Motivala
She has thrown the proverbial beautiful, sexy and sultry out of the window. So when I was told to meet her, I was a bit sceptical. Yes, I picked her for my next interview. Not that I knew that she...
Vahbbiz Dorabjee: Movie Actress
Seems like Shakespeare’s famous quote was meant for Vahbbiz Dorabjee who essays the role of Panchi in Ekta Kapoor’s Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani. She is one of the few Parsi actors on...
India’s religious community in irreversible decline
Parsis are an ethnic community in India that follow the Zoroastrian religion. They are originally from Fars in Iran and had migrated to Western India more than 800 years ago. They are an essential...
Cyrus Sahukar In Conversation
Cyrus Sahukar is an MTV VJ and actor whose claim to fame was Semi Girebaal, a spoof on Simi Garewal. He is funny , witty and a deadly Parsi -Punjabi combination. His brief stint with cinema began...
Desperate measures for a fading Indian faith
What do musician Freddie Mercury, the Tata family who own Corus and Jaguar, and the conductor Zubin Mehta have in common? They all descended from migrants who fled Iran more than a 1,000...
Art films not my scene right now: Jennifer Kotwal
Fast Constipation Relief Kannada actress Jennifer Kotwal wants to continue to star in entertainment films and not really looking at art films as of now. “Art films are not my scene right now,” the...
Boman Irani wants to become a singer
Boman Irani, who started life as a photographer, just loves exploring different avenues. After some crackling performances, including in comic roles, the hugely talented actor is trying his voice as...
Perizad Zorabian, The Monsoon and Chicken Shashlik Sizzlers
The odds that you might catch vivacious actor Perizad Zorabian in cook’s garb are narrow. By Ismat Tahseen / DNA Says the mother of two, “I rarely like to try my hand in the kitchen but my husband...
Well Done Boman Irani
In limited edition crème de la crème parties, corporate cats and their Chanel No 5-perfumed wives fawn over him. A German woman wants to jet across to Mumbai to meet him. Heads turn as the six feet,...
Navroz Mubarak from Bollywood
Good morning, Mumbai — and Navroze Mubarak! The Irani New Year and first day of spring began at 11.02 and 13 seconds last night. But BT invited the ‘Bawajis of Bollywood’ (actually, two Parsis, two...
Boman Irani: In Conversation
There is something very, very real about Boman Irani. It can be felt in the way he gets into the skin of the character — being innocent enough to endear like Oscar Fernandes in Honeymoon Travels Pvt...
Indian filmmaker unveils her own minuscule Parsi Minority
Men in PLO T-shirts march through noisy, chaotic streets; their leader, all in white, stands before the wrought iron gate of a Zoroastrian fire temple urging followers to pledge purity and denounce...
Shiamak Davar: The world at his feet
Widely acknowledged as the guru of contemporary Indian dance, and proud founder of the largest chain of dance schools in the country, Shiamak Davar appears to have it all, on the surface. But dig...
The Influence of Early Parsi Theater
The early influences of Parsi Theater on the film scene today… The dominance of Urdu has a lot to do with the origins of the film industry in Bombay. There were roughly two major influences — the...
Arjun Rampal and the desecration of an Agiyari
The image you see below is from a recent issue of GQ Magazine published in India. Arjun Rampal actor/model answers some candid questions and one of his answers is a boastful “I am one of the few...
Parizad Kolah: A life in comedy
Everyone expected Parizad Kolah Marshall to switch over to films but her comfort zone is the television industry. Meet the host of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge By Mathures Paul THE feisty...
Dilshad Ukaji: Make-up Artist
‘My work instills self-confidence in people’ Meet young makeup artist Dilshad Ukaji. At the age of 25, she is assisting one of the biggest names in the Indian makeup industry —...
Cinema in India and Iran: Will past open the doors for future?
We have same beginning, same memories and same cultural roots. Yes this is the story of India and Iran, at the beginning of past century. When first Persian talkie Dokhtar-e-Lor (Lor Girl) produced...
Iran: The Forgotten Glory: DVD
Iran: The Forgotten Glory is a two part DVD Movie about the Persia of yore. “Shot in over 60 locations in the province of FARS and 5 years in the making, “IRAN, The Forgotten Glory” is the...
Dilshad Patel : I can play anyone
Dilshad Patel is one hell of a performer. With a cheerful laugh she says, "I can play anybody you want, between 22 and 26 years. I would call that my screen age." Patel, the latest entrant...
Shiamak Davar: The Guru Of Contemporary Bollywood Dance
By Yogita Grover Ace choreographer Shiamak Davar was recently in town to enjoy a break from his busy schedule in B-town. The man who has been credited with the title of being “the guru” of modern...
Sooni Taraporewala draws ire of conservative group
In spite of a frown from the conservatives, Sooni Taraporewala has gone ahead and done something that no other director would dare to do. The director has replicated a Parsi fire temple onscreen...
Sooni Taraporewala: A Parsi state of mind
Naomi Canton, Hindustan Times Mumbai, March 04, 2009 Her first film Little Zizou will be released on March 13. Fifty-two-year-old writerphotographer Sooni Taraporevala speaks to Naomi Canton about...
The Other Mumbai
An Acclaimed Screenwriter’s Latest Film Takes on Indian Zoroastrianism In the film “Little Zizou,” 10-year-old Liana asks her friend Xerxes if he knows where their people,...
All in the family
Celebrating the world she knows best, Sooni Taraporevala brings all our favourite Parsis together Parizaad Khan But the cast member doing the kissing is her fox terrier Toots who, along with various...
Zidane and Little Zizou: A close miss
French soccer legend Zidedine Zidane might have had a Parsi connection. Had things gone according to plan, the soccer star would have done a cameo in Sooni Taraporewala’s award winning film...
In conversation with Nargish Rabadi a.k.a Shammi
From Screen India All of eighty years, Shammi Aunty as she is lovingly called, has lost count of the films in which she has acted. Starting off playing heroine in her earlier films, Shammi switched...
By Shanaya Lalkaka for DNA India Sooni Taraporevala’s Little Zizou is busy making the rounds of film festivals and will hit Mumbai theatres soon, reports Shanaya Lalkaka Sooni Taraporevala’s...
Sooni Taraporewala: In conversation post – Little Zizou
Sooni Taraporevala, who wrote the screenplay for Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala and The Namesake, turns director with Little Zizou. Her stories dredge up the darkness in society, yet her...
Nazneen Contractor’s long, strange trip to ‘The Border’
As customs agent Layla Hourani on “The Border” — which airs Mondays on CBC Television — Nazneen Contractor is almost a genre of one. Hourani defies both the Western...
How Manekshaw tackled a Man who wowed to kill him
This is a small clip of Sam Manekshaw’s Speech at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He is narrating of an incident at North East India’s Military Camp. [via DeshGujarat]
Zoroastrianism on BBC: Heaven and Earth
Jennifer Kotwal to Star in a new movie
She will soon be seen in Mudh Mudh Ke Na Dekkh Mudh Mudh Ke with Himesh Reshammaiya but despite picking up offers from Bollywood, Jennifer Kotwal says she will never turn her back on Kannada and...
Film Personalities on Parsi New Year
Perizad Kolah Marshall: Pateti is the last day of the year for the Parsi community and generally falls in the last days of August as per the English calendar. Bawas don’t need an excuse for...
Boman Irani: I am proud to be a Zoroastrian
Q.I am very proud to be a Zoroastrian… A.Besides playing a Parsi in few of my films, I have played a Parsi in the play I am not Bajirao . I presume it is probably my best work to date. About...
Ronnie Screwvala: Bollywood to Hollywood
Screwvala lives with his second wife, Zarina, and his lookalike labrador, Sprite, in an upscale apartment block in Mumbai. They are currently having another apartment renovated that will look out...
Jennifer Kotwal: Actress
Looking trendy-as-ever, Jennifer Kotwal of Just Mohabbat fame gets chatty while on a visit to the city From several Hindi television serials like Just Mohabbat, acting in a brief role in Subhash...
NYC Screening of “Crisis in Faith”
This update was sent out by ZAGNY: The Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York Please join us for a screening of Tenaz Dubash’s documentary film, “Crisis in Faith: Zoroastrians...
Shernaz Patel returns to TV
Tell Shernaz Patel that everybody thought that she had given up acting and she laughs. “That’s a huge misconception. It’s just that I haven’t been offered too much work. I try to take up whatever...
Hello Zeus!
Tanaaz and Bakhtiyar Irani were recently blessed with a baby boy. Bakhtiyar was so excited that he has recorded the entire sequence of the operation. The actors had planned the birth of the baby on...
Bollywood’s Best Bawas
Perhaps one of the most tolerant and accommodating communities in India, Parsis have often been at the receiving end of humour. And if there’s someone who has cashed in maximum moolah by adding a...
How our own Nadia whipped Bollywood
FORGET about GI Jane, Xena: Warrior Princess and Wonder Woman. Cinema’s first ass-kicking chick was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Australian who spoke Hindi as she tussled with lions and...
Sooni Taraporevala to direct Little Zizou
John Abraham has added another feather to his hat with his presence in the directorial debut of the internationally acclaimed photographer and screenplay writer, Sooni Taraporevala. The film titled...
Jeroo Mulla: Change Through Films
Interview by Mahafreed Irani for DNA India. Jeroo Mulla is the head of department of Social Communications Media at Sophia Polytechnic. She has taught film appreciation for the last 24 years. She...
Jeroo Mulla: Change Through Films
Interview by Mahafreed Irani for DNA India. Jeroo Mulla is the head of department of Social Communications Media at Sophia Polytechnic. She has taught film appreciation for the last 24 years. She...
Nauheed Cyrusi Actor
My taste buds are truly blessed for having inherited both, Iranian and Parsi blood. I get to eat the usual Parsi fare every day, and also get the opportunity to devour the not-so-common Iranian...
Crisis in Faith: Zoroastrians Today
This is the title of a film by Tenaz Dubash. Tenaz is a film maker based in New York City. The premiere of this movie is scheduled for Saturday, February 2, 2008 at the Y. B. Chavan Center...