‘Parzania was a thin thread we were hanging on to’

I fought a lone battle with the authorities to find my son and was hoping that after watching the film, Amdavadis would be sensitised to our plight. But it seems one powerful person decides which film my fellow citizens will or will not watch. Cowed down by him, multiplex owners will not screen the film. Amdavadis are taking this without even a whimper.

Till Monday, Ahmedabad was my home. My Parsi ancestors settled here centuries ago. But today I feel I don’t belong here anymore. This city and its people, the rich and the powerful who can make a difference, have disassociated themselves from us. They are alien to me and my family now.

‘Parzania’ was our last hope of finding my son. It was a thin thread we were hanging on to, thinking that the movie would touch a sentimental chord. There were so many people there that day when Gulbarg Society was attacked. There must be at least one person who has seen or knows what happened to my boy. I was hoping that after watching the film that person who knows the truth will finally stand up and tell us the fate of Azhar. At least, we will know whether or not to keep our hopes alive. The rest of the world has already seen the film but it is Ahmedabad from where we were hoping to get some clues.

It is ironical that I was associated with film projection for almost two decades but cannot get my own film shown anywhere in Gujarat. The day Azhar went missing I was in the projection room of Kamal theatre in Sabarmati. I had to quit to look for my son which is now my sole job. If only I was still working in a theatre we wouldn’t have to plead with multiplex owners.

Monday night turned out to be the toughest time in the five years since Azhar went missing. The fate of ‘Parzania’ was to be decided the next morning. I have spent many sleepless nights thinking about my boy but that night my mind was in absolute turmoil, veering between hope and despair. I kept pushing back the one thought that kept coming: that Ahmedabad, my hometown, the city where I lost my son, will not see the film.

I cannot describe in words the despondency I felt when the fate of the film was sealed the next day as multiplex owners refused to screen it. The director, Rahul Dholakia, was in town that day but no one could do anything about it.

I don’t want to talk with the people behind this; they are the ones who are responsible for my son’s fate and now the film’s fate. I cannot plead with anyone to be human.

As told to Sreenivas Janyala