Top Parsi portrayals in Bollywood films

Khatta Meetha (1981)


Director: Basu Chatterjee

Cast: Ashok Kumar, Pearl Padamsee, Rakesh Roshan, David Abraham Cheulkar, Ranjit Chowdhry


Based on the Hollywood hit Yours, Mine And Ours (1968), the film revolved around widower Homi Mistry (Ashok Kumar)’s and widow Nargis Sethna’s (Pearl Padamsee) romance and marriage when they are well into their middle-age. How their respective families react to the change and learn to live together, forms the crux of this comedy.


 

 

 

Pestonjee (1988)


Director: Vijaya Mehta

Cast: Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi


It’s easily one of the best portrayals both of the Parsi community in general as well as the human condition in particular. Anupam, Naseer and Shabana play three friends who become different from what they were over time. The tragi-comic changes in their lives and their reactions to it form the basis of this moving story.


 

Earth (1998)


Director: Deepa Mehta

Cast: Aamir Khan, Nandita Das, Rahul Khanna and Maia Sethna


Told from the perspective of a Parsi girl caught in the aftermath of Partition, the film was a moving account of the troubled times and portrayed how religious divide poisoned friendships overnight. It was based on Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel, Ice Candy Man.


 

Parzania (2005)


Director: Rahul Dholakia

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Sarika, Raj Zutshi and Parzan Dastur


This moving film was about a families search for their lost child in the aftermath of Gujarat riots. Both Naseer and Sarika played their parts effectively.


 

 

 

Being Cyrus (2006)


Director: Homi Adajania

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Boman Irani and Simone Singh


Parsis are either portrayed as being honest and hardworking or as comic stereotypes but director Homi Adajania, a Parsi himself, made a thriller about a dysfunctional family with dark secrets and also introduced a cold blooded killer in the mix.


 

Little Zizou (2008)


Director: Sooni Tarporwala

Cast: Boman Irani, Zenobia Shroff, Jahan Bativala, Iyanah Bativala, Sohrab Ardeshir, Cyrus Brocha, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal and John Abraham


With a Parsi director and a mostly Parsi cast, this film brought to light not only the bawa quirks and eccentricities but also the long-standing internal struggle between the liberals and fundamentalists within the community.

Ferrari Ki Sawari (2012)


Director: Rajesh Mapuskar

Cast: Boman Irani, Sharman Joshi and Ritvik Sahore


It was a short, touching comedy about three generations of a Parsi family and their dreams and desires. Most of the film was shot in Parsi locales that lent it a nice touch of authenticity.


 

 

 

Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi (2012)


Director: Bela Bhansali Sehgal

Cast: Boman Irani, Farah Khan


Parsis are known for marrying rather late and this a funny love story about a middle-aged couple finding love and togetherness while having all sorts of misadventures together. Both Boman and Farah acted convincingly and managed to touch our hearts in the process.