Playing all the roles

She's ready with her first full-length feature film as a director. Little Zizou, Sooni Taraporewala’s film (which she’s written, directed and produced), releasing on March 13, is a comedy set in Mumbai and is a story told by Xerxes, an 11-year-old football-crazy Parsi boy who wants legendary French mid-fielder Zinedine Zidane (Zizou) to come to Mumbai. With Little Zizou, Taraporewala’s two children also make their on-screen debut.

You’ve worked with Mira Nair for 20 years as a screenplay writer. Why did you wait so long to direct a film?
Well, I was satisfied writing screenplays for others and never really felt the need to break out of that mould. Then, in 2005, I had a kernel of an idea that I wanted to take forward. I wrote the story in 10 days flat while also having the entire cast and different locations in mind. Of course, we refined the screenplay 17 times before Little Zizou was finally ready on paper.

Why is the story of Little Zizou so important in today’s times?
Being a story of two unusual families in conflict; one headed by a humbug religious bigot, the other by a reforming journalist, the story is critical because it explores a child’s point of view. This boy believes that his dead mother is an angel, capable of performing miracles and that includes getting footballer Zidane to Mumbai. Beneath its many layers, it explores the story of love, the story of innocence especially since it’s the boy’s point of view.

You belong to the Parsi community which, though not too often, does find a mention in the Indian film industry. How accurate is the representation?
I have studied (in my own way) the Parsi community as far as my work is concerned. This includes, besides other projects, my book, Parsis: The Zoroastrians of India, for instance. As far as visual representation of Parsis in Indian cinema is concerned, all I can say is that I have thoroughly enjoyed Being Cyrus, a film by a talented director — also my friend — Homi Adajania.

Having been a part of the film industry for such a long time, what are the changes that you’ve found — especially now that you’re a director — in Bollywood?
When I started out, there was obviously a greater divide between art cinema and mainstream films. Now the lines are merging and studios like Fox, UTV and Mukta Arts (Subhash Ghai’s company), to name a few, have dedicated divisions to produce, market and distribute independent cinema. I’m glad I wrote and directed Little Zizou in these changing times. However, even if multiplexes screen independent films, preference is always given to big-budget films with as many as 14 shows reserved for them.

But Little Zizou is a relatively small film too. It just might have to struggle with other releases which could have bigger budgets. What are your expectations?
I have no expectations. I have the hope that it’ll be a popular film and that people will want to go back to the theatres to watch it again and again.