An Iranian evening

Café Irani Chai premiered at the Sophia Bhabha Auditorium in Bombay on October 12, 2013, the annual cultural day of the Indo-Iranian Friendship Society. Present on the occasion were Minoo Shroff, president of the Society, Masood Ebrahimi Khaleghi, consul general of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mehdi Hassankhani, director of the Culture House of Iran, Godrej Dotivala, secretary general of the Society and Khodadad P. Irani, acting president of the Iranian Zoroastrian Anjuman (IZA), Bombay who is director of Wibs Bread Private Limited and president of Indian Bakers’ Association. A host of other guests were also present.

(L to R): Masood Ebrahimi Khaleghi and Mansoor Showghi Yezdi; Minoo Shroff and Khodadad P. Irani

An awards ceremony preceded the screening where Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh, governor of the province of Yazd in Iran, amongst others, was felicitated, mentions an email received by Parsiana from Showman’s Show moving picture company belonging to Dr Mansoor Showghi Yezdi, vice president of the Society (see "Irani cafes on film,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, October 7, 2013). All present were served bun maska and Irani chai with Iranian bakery delicacies.
The film was then released by sports physiotherapist Dr Ali Irani. Produced by Dr Zeebah Shoughi Yezdi and Mohammed Hussain Shovghi, with Sheriar J. Irani as executive producer, in association with Ali Hemmati, chairman and managing director of Paradise Food Court, the film was sponsored by the IZA. The screening was followed by a Sufi qawwali rendered by Iranian singer Jawad Askari, after which Vivek Joshi performed on the sarod and Ahmad Ghani sang some heart-warming songs. Dr Mansoor Showghi Yezdi presented a cheque from the Café Irani Chai Foundation to the nuns of Sophia College for their charitable organization which tends to handicapped children. Two other cheques were handed over, one to Dr Meher Master-Moos for Mazdayasnie Monasterie and the other to Habib Shaidah, a visually handcapped lyric writer, the email concludes.