Roshan & Mani

In the midst of the ordinary lies the extraordinary. This is what Roshan & Mani is, a documentary film showcasing the everyday life of two sisters who live together, sharing their old age with each other along with the memories of the times gone by. Roshan and Mani share a beautiful bond, they take care of each other, pull each other’s leg, and roll into a burst of sweet laughter seamlessly. As the Parsi sisters confront old age, they grapple with small and big challenges every day with a smile on their faces. It’s this smile, beaming despite all odds, that’s extraordinary. 

We chatted with Rishaya Palkhivala, the director of Roshan & Mani, who directed it as a film school project. Read on for our chat with her on the two lovely sisters, the theme of the film, and the filmmaking process. 

Roshan & Mani has been screened at numerous festivals, nationally and internationally, such as - Film South Asia, Kathmandu; Every Woman Biennial, New York City; Habitat Film Festival, Delhi; IAWRT, Delhi; Smita Patil Documentary and Short Film Festival, Pune. The film can be watched on YouTube, link below.

What were your motivations to make a film on Roshan and Mani?

During my documentary semester at the National Institute of Design, I was looking into making a film related to the minorities of Ahmedabad. My friend quite logically suggested I should make a documentary on Parsis, so I began thinking in that direction. One of the overriding sentiments of the community is the fear of its inevitable extinction. The death rate far exceeds the birth rate, and most Parsis are in the senior to super senior citizen age bracket. My grandfather was over 90 at the time, and perhaps the fear of his loss drove me to capture the lives of those like him. I was interested in basing my documentary in a Parsi old age home, and visited several homes (finding no Parsis), the two Parsi fire temples of the city, and walked through Parsi colonies. Finally, I found a lead when I went to the Parsi Panchayat of Ahmedabad and they sold me a directory of all the Parsis in Ahmedabad. As expected, most of the contacts were elderly, and I found a few over the age of 80 who were listed as living alone. I began calling the numbers and found several of them were either no longer alive or now living with family members. Finally, I called Roshan aunty, and she agreed to meet me at her home. Arriving at her flat, I was greeted by Mani aunty and I realized that the sisters were living together. That one encounter was so enchanting as I watched their playful dynamic unfold in front of me. I enjoy the idea of capturing life ‘as it is’ as if that were possible, and instead of portraying several elderly Parsis living alone, I decided to depict the sisters' wonderful relationship. 

Have you been in touch with them lately? Since the film was made in 2018, are there any changes that have come in their life since then?

I have been in touch with Roshan aunty, which reminds me that I haven't called her in a while. A few months after shooting, I went back to show them the film and noticed Mani aunty was not at the dinner table. Roshan aunty casually said that she had been 'sent to the home', which I assumed was a joke. However, I found out that Roshan aunty felt she was unable to look after Mani aunty anymore and put her in the same home their brother was in so she could get dedicated care. Considering the fact that Mani aunty's memory of me would definitely be little to none, I didn't think it would be appropriate to confuse her by visiting her in the home. I did manage to show Roshan aunty the film, and later personally showed it to her daughter who had come to India for a visit too.

What message do you think the film imparts to its viewers?

I'm not sure there is one specific message, one of my jury members in college commented that this was her gripe with the film, but I didn't intend to pass across a message. I only hope that I was able to portray a slice of the Parsi culture, the reality of living alone as an elderly person, and the warmth of sisterly love. This is the story of Roshan and Mani and I just hope I did justice to it and made the viewer think differently or reconsider their own beliefs in some small way. 

Please share a few words on the making of the film, how many crew members were there, how much did it take to shoot, etc.

The making of the film was extremely simple since it was a college project. We got the camera for 4 days (of which we could only shoot half days as Roshan aunty told me they would be sleeping in the afternoon so we should stop shooting post-lunch), and I took a friend's camera one day to capture an event for elderly Parsis which I didn't include in the film. My cinematographer was my classmate Akashneel Duttasharma, my sound recordist was a classmate for two days and the camera attendant for the next two. We recorded sound with one boom and the in-built camera sound, which is why the sound is pretty terrible. The budget for the film is under INR 5000, as that was what our department reimbursed for us. In fact, we don't have a single picture of us at the shoot or with Roshan or Mani aunty because we were just a few of us who were wrapped up in the shoot. Extremely low budget and production, I guess it's a sign of interesting content that managed to touch so many people. All thanks to the sister duo who lit up the screen!

Rishaya Palkhivala is a writer and filmmaker living in Mumbai, India. She is an alumna of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India with an MDes in Film and Video Communication. Her films lean towards realism and often represent the dwindling Parsi community, with her documentary 'Roshan and Mani' being screened across the globe.