Heat and Dustoor

Punsters,from the days of Shakespeare,have always got a bit of a bad rap from sniffy litterateurs like Samuel Johnson who famously derided punning as the lowest form of humour.

Mercifully,however,one can always find a few good men and women who are not intimidated by the pun’s dodgy reputation and exult in unabashedly indulging in some frisky wordplay.

I am always delighted to chance upon a fellow Pundit and enjoy riffing for hours on a topic once we get started.

Imagine my joy when I was recently invited to join in a chat group comprising a bunch of eminent media professionals who had started compiling a list of “Parsi films that never made it to the silver screen”. Zubin Balaporia,demented genius and band member of Indus Creed,instigated this laugh riot with a series of Shakespearean titles that included such classics as Rumi and Juliet,Two Gentlemen of Udwada,Much Bhonu about Nothing and The Taming of Kekashroo. Zubin also suggested some other gems like Quantum of Soli,Moby Dikra,The Towering Inferno of Silence and Indian Jones and the Fire Temple of Doom.

The talented music director Shiv Mathur then composed the elegant Rhyme of the Ancient Nariman whilst celebrated photographer Farrokh Chothia chose to focus on that erotic cinematic masterpiece Cama Sutra. In a fit of inspired lunacy,ad film maker Arjun Mukerjee urged us to see the Manekshaw Shank Redemption whilst his former boss and advertising legend,Subir Chatterjee warned,I know Wadia did last Summer. Subir also came up with the brilliant They shoot Hosi’s don’t they? Veteran sound engineer,Rajiv Kenkre then came out blazing with the Guns of Navroze and added Where Vultures Dare to this merry mix.

Market research guru,Sarang Panchal came up with the highly rated kiddie classic,Homi Alone whilst I suggested Anaita at the Opera and Robinson Cusrow.

Given that we are ostensibly a bunch of gainfully employed professionals,it was heartening that we still managed to generate some more Bawa bon mots over the next two weeks. These included such zany titles as

How Green was my Salli,Parzan of the Apes,Heat and Dustoor,Under the Tuscan Dhun,Who Rogered Framji Petit,Saving Rayo’s Privates,Kersiblanca,Murder by Dikri,Parsipolis and Cinema Parizado.

We now welcome contributions from readers to our cinematic oeuvre and,just in case,anybody is offended by this list,feel free to refer the matter directly to the Parsi Punchayat.

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