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Recognition at last?
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Rahul Dholakia's much acclaimed "Parzania" is finally likely to be released at cinema halls
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Based on the Gujarat violence of 2002, the film has been lying in cans for more than a year, and Sarika's possible award might just help the film find takers at the box office
STATING HIS POINT OF VIEW Rahul Dholakia PHOTO: S. MAHINSHA
It is still in hush-hush tone. Sarika, she who came stealthily back to mainstream cinema with Kal and Sacred Evil, might just win the biggest award of her stop-start career. The actress, who won over the cinemagoers in the late 1970s and early 80s', is all set to bag the National Award for her fetching performance as the mother of a riot victim in Rahul Dholakia's Parzania.
Based on the Gujarat violence of 2002, the film has been lying in cans for more than a year, and Sarika's possible victory might just help the film find takers at the box office. Despite being widely acclaimed and winning encomiums at the National Film Festival and a host of other international festivals, the Naseeruddin Shah-Sarika movie directed by Dholakia, who once gave us Kehta Hai Dil Bar Bar, has not found takers for a public release. Now the director is hopeful of better things. Says Dholakia, "We are going to release the film in the U.S. first, then in India."
Pointing out that the accolades and awards do not matter at the cinema halls, he says, he might just have to release the film on his own. That is partly caused by the fact that the exhibitors and scared of releasing any movie with a sensitive content. Parzania was shot in Gujarat and has left a section of the cinemagoers quite unhappy with the depiction of the majority community. However, the success of Aamir Khan-Kajol's Fanaa which was released in Gujarat despite some opposition has filled Dholakia with hope. "After Fanaa there is a definite possibility. The success of the film and its release does give me the hope that soon Parzania will make it to the halls in India."
It is not just one award for the lead actress or the success of a big budget film that has Dholakia clinging on to the silver line of optimism. It is the success of small budget, the new parallel cinema for the multiplex audiences that has given him a new lease of life. "People are beginning to appreciate good cinema. They are open to change and are welcoming experimentation. If a film like Mathrubhoomi can be accepted, I definitely feel Parzania should be able to find favour with the multiplex audience," sums up Dholakia.
ZIYA US SALAM
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