Navroze Contractor, a multi award winning cinematographer, photographer, superbike enthusiast, cricket player, coach and administrator, and writer, passed away in a road accident, on Sunday, June 18. He was 80-years-old. The accident took place near Hosur, when he was returning on his sports bike along with his friends. Another bike had hit Navroze’s bike, and he was rushed to the Denkanikottai Hospital in Tamil Nadu but did not survive. It had been his routine to go on bike trips every weekend.
Navroze was an important contributor to the documentary field in India, and served as the cinematographer for many award-winning feature films, and documentaries. Some of the feature films he shot are Duvidha by Mani Kaul, Percy by Pervez Merwanji, Love in the Time of Malaria by Sanjiv Shah, Devarakadu by Pattabhi Rama Reddy, Pehla Adhyay by Vishnu Mathur, and Frames by (Chetan Shah). The documentaries he shot includes Ballad of Pabu by George Luneau, Dreams of the Dragon’s Children by Pierre Hoffmann, Are you listening? by Martha Stewart, All in the Family by Ketan Mehta and The Open Frame by Chetan Shah. Navroze was also the director of two documentaries - Bharat Parikrama (on his circumnavigation of India in 2005 along with two fellow motorcycle enthusiasts) and Jhadu Katha (on brooms).
He was also an eminent photographer, with his photographs of jazz musicians in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, and his photographs of artist Bhupen Khakhar in the collection of the Tate Modern, London. Navroze also wrote regularly for publications likCAR India/BIKE India, Zigwheels, Overdrive, Wheels Unplugged and Fast Bikes, and his first book ‘The Dreams of the Dragon’s Children’ is based on his film-making experiences in China in 1984. Nazroze, throughout his life, was an active campaigner for road safety.
Navroze grew up in Ahmedabad and studied at Shreyas High School; obtained a BA (Fine Arts) degree in painting and photography from MS University, Baroda. He later studied direction and cinematography at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and studied photography with Bhupendra Karia and advanced cinematography with Laszlo Kovacs in the US.
Condolences have been pouring after his death. Filmmaker Anand Patwardhan wrote, “You will never be forgotten Navroze Contractor - Filmmaker, Cinematographer, photographer, music lover, biker, cricketer, raconteur, lover of life and friend to so many of us.”
Film editor and script consultant Jabeen Merchant wrote, “It has been the greatest honour and privilege, Navroze. To have worked with the incredible images you shot, and to have learnt from you; but more than that, to have laughed at your crazy anecdotes, shared a drink and a plate of forbidden goodies, watched a film together, to have known you and received a hug of friendship from you. You will never leave our hearts, ever. Salaam!”