Alan, an American, arrives in Ahmedabad city. For long time, he has been searching for answers, praying to find internal peace and understanding to the world and his troubled life. Alan has chosen India as his school, and Gandhi as his subject. He meets Cyrus and his family. They are Parsi, followers of a rarely practiced religion. Alan develops an unlikely friendship with Cyrus. Just as Alan begins to find both his peace and his path, the worst communal riots hit them. Within 24 hours, 100,000 citizens storm into Ahmedabad and slaughter thousands of Muslims in the name of God, making that day one of the largest acts of communal violence the country has ever seen. Inspired by a true story of a family caught up in the gujarat riots, Parzania takes a bold look at religious wars, spiritual growth, and the land of India, where the bigotry of a few politicians, threaten to wipe the existence of a nation.

Screenplay David N. Donihue, Rahul Dholakia
Photography (colour) Robert Eras
Editing Aarif Sheikh
Music Zakir Hussain
Sound Manoj Sikka
Cast Naseeruddin Shah, Corin Nemec, Sarika, Parzan Dastur, Sheeba Chadda CORIN NEMEC
Production K.B.Sareen, Kamal Patel, Rahul Dholakia
Year of production 2006
Running time 118’
Format 35mm

Rahul Dholakia

Rahul Dholakia studied mathematics at the Bombay University. 1987-90 he produced and directed films and TV shows, and co-directed his first documentaries. He studied then Film Making at the New York Tech. He produced documentaries aired on Channel 4 and the 3 independent documentaries Farooq, Dot Busters and the award winning Teenage Parents in New York. He also runs a 24 hour broadcast channel in America. He made his feature film debut with the Hindi film Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar. Parzania, his second feature, has received critical acclaim. It premiered in Pusan, opened the Indian Panorama in Kerela in 2005 and was selected 2006 for the festivals of Palm Springs and Bangkok.