We lost Navroze Contractor to a tragic road accident in June 2023. One of India’s leading cinematographers with many works in his filmography that stood the test of time, Navroze shot with Indian and international filmmakers for over five decades.
Between 1980-83, Navroze shot four films— ‘Molkarin’, ‘Tambakoo Chakila Oob Aali’, ‘Idhi Katha Matramena’ and ‘Sudesha’—with India’s first feminist film collective Yugantar who collaborated with women workers’ unions and the women’s movement to co-create these films.
His body of over 50 documentaries include several international productions such as ‘Ballad of Pabu’ by George Luneau, ‘Dreams of the Dragon’s Children’ by Pierre Hoffmann, ‘Are You Listening?’ by Martha Stewart, and ‘Last House in Bombay’ by Luke Jennings. His most notable Indian documentaries are ‘What has Happened to this City?’, ‘Something like a War’, ‘The Legacy of Malthus’, ‘The Advocate’, ‘Invoking Justice’ and ‘We Have Not Come Here to Die’ by Deepa Dhanraj.
As cinematographer, his eleven feature films include Mani Kaul’s ‘Duvidha’, Sanjiv Shah’s ‘Hun Hunshi Hunshilal’, Pattabhirama Reddy’s ‘Devara Kadu’ and Chetan Shah’s ‘Framed’ among others.
Navroze’s photographs of jazz musicians are in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, USA. His work on traditional Kushti has been shown in Amsterdam, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. He took photography and film workshops at all major film schools in India and several universities abroad, as well as with primary school children around India.
His love for motorcycles took him riding in Asia, Australia, South Africa, Europe, Thailand, Vietnam, Canada and USA. He initiated a team of three riders, including him, who circumnavigated India on motorcycles in 2005, covering over 18,500 km in 57 days.
At People’s Film Collective, documentaries shot by Navroze have been a regular feature at the KPFF, and in our Monthly Screenings and Travelling Cinema programmes. In 2021, in the midst of a raging pandemic, Navroze taught cinematography in an online filmmaking workshop organised by the Collective.
