Dara and Rupa Mody were, in a way, revisiting a deep personal grief on Thursday, when they stepped into their old house in Gulbarg society for the first time after the loss of their son Azhar, who went missing in the massacre that took place in the colony during the 2002 post-Godhra riots. And actors Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika, who have lived through that grief in their imagination by playing the Modys in the movie Parzania, too, were seeing the Parsi couple, and the colony, for the first time. “I had thought I’d have so much to tell the family when I meet them, but now when I am actually meeting them, I can’t say anything,” said Shah. “I just admire the silent strength with which, the family endured the pain and kept their hope of finding its child back.” The Modys were among those who had taken shelter at former MP Ehsaan Jafri’s house in the Meghaninagar colony on February 28, 2002, when it was attacked by a mob. In the melee after the MP’s house was set ablaze, 13-year-old Azhar was separated from his sister Binaifer, whose hand he was holding. The family has been looking for him since, unwilling to believe he is dead, firm in the hope he will come back into their lives again. They left Gulbarg, and now live in the Bhaikaka Nagar area. US-based film-maker Rahul Dholakia has captured the Modys’ tragic hope in Parzania, slated for a January 26 release. “I find this place haunted and unsettling,” said Shah of the abandoned house and colony. “It is hard to imagine the trauma of the people who lost their lives or loved ones here.” Shah and Sarika said they were at a loss for words to describe being at the site of the incident. Talking about the making of the film, Shah said the nature and small budget of the film made it a difficult “but rewarding experience.” “The subject being sensitive, we had to be careful not to hurt sentiments while making the movie,” said Shah. “I think the time has come to tell the world the truth as it has happened and not bury our heads in the sand.” He said the real story needed to be told without raising fingers of accusation. “Whom do you accuse and of what? If you are looking at the root of all troubles, where do you go? Back to partition?” he asked. “I believe, that is where the roots lie.” Of Dholakia’s attempt, he said, “Rahul has tried to tell the story as it is.” Dara said the State Government must waive entertainment tax for the movie, so that everyone gets to see it. “We want everyone to see it and know what kind of trauma a family goes through under such situations,” Dara said. “We’ll also keep on hoping that someone may somewhere find our boy and know him through the still photograph shown in the movie, and let us know.” “Please see the movie, you will know, what a mother goes through after losing her child,” said Rupa, adding that while she prays no one should ever go through an experience like hers, she hopes someone, someday will surely give her a news about her son. “I know I’ll get my son back, some day, somehow,” she said. And Dara added, “Once we get our Azhar back, we will come back here again.”
