BENGALURU: Navroze [Contractor] was always full of life and so creative. I’ve never worked with him, but he’s been a good friend over the years and it was a joyful time to be with him. In fact, we shared a common thing of being finicky about coffee. I remember when we were both on the jury of a short film festival in Kerala. He had brought his own coffee beans to grind! That was the last time I met him, it was quite a few years ago.
As a still photographer, documentary maker, writer and more, he was this amazing multifaceted man.
Devarakadu was an excellent film with his camera work, which at that point was a trendsetter. He’s worked with some of the best directors in the field. He would do extensive research for his documentaries. So, he was a very secular and liberal kind of artist.
For me, more than his films, his still photography, exhibited all over the world, was an important contribution. He was such a happy person all the time. That will stay in my mind, apart from his camera work and the images he has built for us over the years.
He was also a very outspoken person. He was one of those people who could voice out what he felt since he had travelled across the world, doing his work. And we need people like him more than ever, who can voice their opinions, to survive and continue to live on.
When I heard the news of his passing, I was shocked, because he has always talked about road safety. What an ironic thing for him to go that way, but at the same time, I thought he went doing what he loves best – or one of the many things he loved doing.
It’s very sad to lose somebody so happy and pragmatic. I was recently watching him talk about his passion for motorcycling with some enthusiasts and he was talking about the various things he’d been doing in Afghanistan. It was hilarious and I was smiling throughout. That is the same kind of feeling you’d get when you met him in person. As people get old, they can get cynical. But I don’t think Navroze ever got old!
(As told to Dese Gowda)
Navroze was a great person and a genuine human being. I knew that he rode to his farm in Hosur each week and did a lot of charity there. I am sad at his passing but cannot miss the irony that he died doing something that he was very passionate about riding his bike. My connection with him is jazz. He was a very well-informed connoisseur. I met him a few times when I performed. He always had a goid wird for me. And as many would know, his photographs of jazz greats are exhibited at the Smithsonian. I will read his book Dreams of The Dragon’s Children — Raman, a jazz musician