Being Cyrus is one of the many contemporary English films in India with a unique storyline. It is a fresh flick that falls in the genre of psychological drama that revolves around a dysfunctional Parsi family. This film, directed by Homi Adjania, was released in India in 2006. It was Homi Adjania"s directorial debut film and Saif Ali Khan"s first English movie. The film was supposed to be dubbed in Hindi, but later the director cancelled the plan.
In the film "Being Cyrus" Saif Ali Khan delivered one of the best performances of his career. He is supported by the matchless performances by Simone Singh, Naseeruddin Shah and Boman Irani. Honey Chhaya in the role of an old man is also praiseworthy.
Plot of Being Cyrus
The Sethna family residing in Panchgani comprises of a retired sculptor, Dinshaw and his wife Katy. Dinshaw`s brother Farrokh, their father Fardoonjee and Farrokh`s wife Tina live in Mumbai. A stranger named Cyrus Mistry enters their life. He is also the narrator of the story. He arrives at the Sethna household in Panchgani. Cyrus introduces himself as a wanderer who claims that he is enamoured by Dinshaw`s artistic works and asks if he could be his apprentice. The Sethna couple agrees and soon the young man becomes an integral part of their lives. Katy makes advances towards Cyrus, which he tolerates.
With time Cyrus understands the couple better. While Dinshaw is nothing less than an eccentric but a nice man, his wife, Katy is promiscuous and she is bored with the slow paced Panchgani life and her spiceless marriage. She has an affair with her brother-in-law Farrokh who lives in Mumbai. Katy made Cyrus get to her father-in-law Fardoonjee, who lives in an extension of Farrokh`s flat. As Cyrus keeps frequently visiting Fardoonjee, the young man realises that the old man is being ill treated by his younger son. On the other hand Farrokh`s timid young wife, Tina, can only be herself when her domineering husband is not around.
The plot soon turns into a murder mystery with Fardoonjee being killed. As the police investigate the case more murders follow including Farrokh Sethna. Soon it is revealed to the audience that Tina and Cyrus are related-- they are siblings. It was their plan to victimise the Sethna family.
Cast of Being Cyrus
The star cast of the film "Being Cyrus" is provided below:
Saif Ali Khan (Cyrus Mistry)
Naseeruddin Shah (Dinshaw Sethna)
Dimple Kapadia (Katy Sethna)
Boman Irani (Farrokh Sethna)
Simone Singh (Tina Sethna)
Honey Chhaya (Fardounjee Sethna)
Manoj Pahwa (Inspector Lovely)
Nominations of Being Cyrus in Award Shows
"Being Cyrus" was selected for 7 nominations at the 52nd Filmfare Awards in 2007 in technical categories. It also got 3 nominations at the 2nd Global Indian Film Awards- 2 for Adajania and 1 for Dimple Kapadia.
