Parzania, a film about a Ahmedabad Parsi family still waiting for a son who went missing during the Gulbarg Society massacre in the post-Godhra riots of 2002, will not be screened by any theatre in Gujarat tomorrow, the date fixed for its all-India release.The Gujarat government says it has no objection to the film, directed by Rahul Dholakia and starring, among others, Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika who play the Mody couple whose son went missing. But cinema theatre-owners say they are not screening it this week, claiming it will be “commercially nonviable” with the multi-starrer Salaam-e-Ishq also opening tomorrow. Director Dholakia, who is distributing the film himself in Gujarat, says the state’s exhibitors and theatre owners have expressed their “inability to release it on Friday because of other releases”.“I am still in a meeting with exhibitors of Gujarat, trying to work out when it can be released. But the film is not being released on January 26 anywhere in Gujarat. Theatre-owners across Gujarat have said they have other films they want to show tomorrow. I am still trying to work out distribution details and fix a date for its release.’’ Asked if he had been told that there was pressure not to screen the film, Dholakia said: “I would rather talk about it once Parzania is released in the state.’’ Pankaj Kumar, Gujarat’s Secretary, Information and Broadcasting, and also Additional Prinicipal Secretary to the Chief Minister, denied any government role in the decision by theatre-owners not to screen Parzania tomorrow.“The government has not issued any ban nor has any government department asked theatre-owners not to release the film. There is nothing objectionable in the film and the government has no problem with Parzania. There is no question of banning it, I don’t know why it is not being released in the state tomorrow,” Kumar said. Theatres have their own take on Parzania. While Ashok Purohit, manager of City Pulse multiplex in Gandhinagar, said Parzania is “commercially nonviable on a weekend”, the manager of Devi multiplex, Anand, said his theatre was not even considering the film.Manubhai Patel, owner of Wide-Angle, said: “Parzania is not being released because it will be eclipsed by Salaam-e-Ishq. It may be screened next week but certainly not tomorrow or this week”.
