“We’ve been here since the beginning of the city. We’ve helped to build it. We’ve such strong nostalgia about it,” says Feroza Mistree, a cultural historian in a new documentary, titled Qissa-e-Parsi: The Parsi Story. ‘Parsi’ practically meaning Persian, were once descendants of Zoroastrians from Iran and are now an integral part of not only the city but also India. A project in collaboration with the Public Service Broadcasting Trust and Ministry of External Affairs, it has been made keeping foreigners in mind.

A still from the documentary, Qissa-e-Parsi where a Parsi man is seen praying at a Fire Temple in Wadia Atash Bahram, Marine Lines.

Yet, the soft-hued documentary gets known faces of the community to aid a narrative of a community that has and is leading India in art, science, business, music and theatre. From screenwriter/photographer Sooni Taraporevala, TV personality Cyrus Broacha, Farok Shoki (owner of Kyani & Co), and Sam Kerawala (set designer/director), the duo of Divya Cowasji and Shilpi Gulati produce an endearing portraiture of Parsis in just 30 minutes.