The company has made many critically acclaimed documentaries and films for Channel Four and BBC London. SBI was where she gained firsthand knowledge about filmmaking.
Oorvazi’s active involvement with the company began with “The Ramayana: A Journey” - a six part travelogue series produced by her company for Channel Four TV, London. She went on to produce and direct two independent short films; “Mamaiji”, a cinematic portrait of her grandmother with a surreal touch, and “The K File,” a hard- hitting film written by Farrukh Dhondy dealing with Ajmal Kasab, the only live terrorist captured during the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Both these films were well received by audiences and film festivals.
Oorvazi is currently in London with her feature film, “The Path of Zarathustra.”
She hails from Mumbai, India, the home of the Parsi Zoroastrians. She said, “We are a small but significant community and are followers of a three thousand year- old ancient religion, Zoroastrianism. During the time of the British Raj in India, the Parsi community prospered and was the native elite.”
In 2006 in India, Oorvazi attended a Minority Commission meeting and was made aware of the dwindling numbers of the Parsis. “My dear community was on the verge of extinction.” She noted.
Her sensitive artistic spirit was perturbed and the seed for making a film on the subject was sown.
Last year the film was completed; as a 79 min feature in the magic realism genre.
Oorvazi said, “The form and structure of the film is challenging as it does not restrict itself to documentary or conventional plot - driven cinema. It draws from both forms and creates something refreshingly new which requires an active audience participation.”
Oorvazi is in London with her father Sorab Irani –both producers of the film- because she has close ties with the UK.
“Farrukh Dhondy is the screenplay writer of the film and his collaboration takes the work to a different level of thought and execution which has not been attempted before on the subject. I am very keen to release the film in London as an art-house theatrical release. It’s relevant because of the close links between the British Raj and Parsis. London is an important world centre where you can find culture, history, ethnicity and art,” she explained.
Filmmaking is a family profession but Oorvazi has also taught film and acting –these occupations happened by accident. She continued,
“It all began with teaching film appreciation to acting students from a popular acting school in India. It trained stars like Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor etc. Many of these students were glamour struck and imbibing in them a taste for films like Satyajit Ray’s ones was quite challenging. But some students like Ranveer Singh (who happened to be in my first batch in 2007) were very receptive and were keen learners,” she said.
Oorvazi felt that in Bollywood, there was no attention paid to acting technique and the artist in the actor was therefore compromised.
“Acting involves transforming more fully during the process of creation and this could be dangerous or harmful if the approach is wrong.
I pioneer new ideas, so I introduced the Michael Chekhov acting technique to India. This technique is an approach opposed to the traditional ‘method acting’ very popular in India. I feel method acting, where you immerse and become the character, could be regressive for an actor, and stunt his creative expression.
My technique empowers an actor with infinite possibilities. He uses a psychophysical approach to acting with useful tools that I provide. The actor becomes able to emote truthfully and transform into various characters beyond his limited personal identity.
The technique is inspired by Yoga and Rudolf Steiner and is more than just an acting technique; it’s a way of life.
It’s had a lasting influence on me personally and it is a popular technique worldwide. Others who immensely benefitted from it include Johnny Depp, Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson, and Marilyn Monroe….”
Apart from teaching the technique to young and professional actors, Oorvazi has produced a DVD, which has the endorsement of Joanna Merlin, President of the Michael Chekhov Association, New York, USA.
Oorvazi says that as an artist at heart and an entrepreneur by spirit, she crosses boundaries to enrich each role.
She hopes to bring change through her worldview.
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"During the time of the British Raj in India, the Parsi community prospered and was the native elite.”
