I Met A Boy Who Wasn't There...

The film is as true to his life, says Mody, as it can get, yet it conveys "only 10%" of their suffering. "Had Rahul shown all that we went through, people would not have been able to see the film. Humans beings don't have the power to see what we endured," he says. Nonetheless, it's disturbing enough. In the suburban Delhi theatre there is a mix of youngsters and middle-aged women watching the morning show, weeping copiously into their hankies and debating animatedly. "It makes me ashamed of being a Hindu," says a young girl at the interval. "Why do they show Hindus initiating the riots?" asks a boy. There are some, like him, who criticise the film for being inflammatory and one-sided, for showing things too graphically.

But that is the film's power, it is unbearably real whether it talks of women being raped or their genitals being mutilated. Didn't we read it all in the papers? Dholakia claims the focus of the film is not so much religion as hate and what it does to people. "It's not about scratching old wounds but about addressing an issue." Dholakia didn't rush to release the film despite having finished it more than a year ago. "I did not want distributors to sensationalise the film or build any controversies around it," he says. The film was not made for any commercial gain either. The artistes worked for free. "It was imperative to be a part of this project which is a record of our times," says Shah. "It's also imperative for it to be seen," he adds. "We must appreciate that things have started opening up, such issues are not getting swept under the carpet," says Sarika.

With Parzania, Dholakia has come of age. Already, his previous Bollywood venture, Kehta Hai Dil Baar Baar, a comedy, has become a distant memory. With his next film he doesn't want to go through another intense journey, he wants to move on to making a thriller.

Mody is hoping his son will come back to him. The authorities may not have come to his help, but the film flashes his son's photo at the end. Mody also hopes the film gets released in Gujarat. "I need the support of the people of Gujarat. It will help us find him," he says. In these five years did he ever think of moving out of Gujarat? "Where will we go? There are so few of us in the country," he says. He has moved from a Muslim locality to the Hindu-dominated Thalpeg area. But the sense of security still eludes him. "No one is safe, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, all are in the same boat," he says. "It's just a question of who can fight back better."