Bengali film How Are You Feroz explores declining Parsi community
After screenings and accolades at several international film festivals, the award-winning film is set to be released in cinema halls and multiplexes later this month.
The lead character, Feroz, is an antique art dealer deeply attached to his artefacts, each carrying a personal story.
'As a young man, he loved his parents and a girl he grew up with, along with the artefacts surrounding him. Over time, he had to part with them one by one," Guha told PTI.
'The film explores themes of identity, longing, and resilience through the story of an antique dealer whose possessions mirror his situation," she said.
'It's an emotional story showing how feelings transcend language and race. He has to sell some of his prized artefacts for money, but being emotionally tied to them—like the letters from his loved one—he faces a painful dilemma," she said.
Guha, whose cast includes Aryann Bhowmik, Ashoke Viswanathan, and Anusha Viswanathan, said the story underlines that 'emotion reigns over religious and linguistic identity." She added, 'Feroz wanted love and reciprocity and perhaps finds it. In the end, the world of art liberates him. This is my story, your story, our story… a story of an art lover." Stressing that the film deals with the identity crisis of a community member, whose numbers are on the decline, and his antique trade is on a downward journey," Viswanathan told PTI.
'The film's title is derived from a cursory greeting like 'how are you'? We just say it without meaning anything," he added.
'Guha has tried to look inside the mind of Feroz. I play a film director who is close to Feroz," Viswanathan said.
'He lives in the world of antics, curios, and heirlooms. The film questions whether Feroz is also becoming an antique," she said.
Reflecting on the Parsi community's situation, Viswanathan said, 'They may not be subalterns in terms of wealth, but their numbers are shrinking. The film focuses on this decline. Viewed through the prism of sentiment, that is its strongest point." 'How Are You Feroz' has been the official selection at the Asian Independent Film Festival 2025 and the Toronto International Women Film Festival 2023. It won Best Feature Film at the Berlin Indie Film Festival 2024, Best Screenplay at Kodaikanal International Film Festival, and Best Film at the Indian Panorama International Film Festival 2025.
'It went to eight festivals and won awards at four of them in recent times," Guha added. PTI SUS MNB
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August 11, 2025, 09:00 IST
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