Pestonjee

The film is an intimate look into the life and manners of the Parsi community, especially those living in the city of Bombay (now Mumbai) in the 1950s and 60s. Piroj Shah (Naseeruddin Shah) and Pestonjee (Anupam Kher) are close friends. They like to do everything together (and even plan to get married on the same day), even though they are very different in temperament. Piroj Shah (Piroj) is quiet, thoughtful and indecisive, while Pestonjee (Pesi) is an extrovert. Phiroj is unable to make up his mind about marrying a girl, Jeroo (Shabana Azmi), selected for him by a matchmaker. It is Pesi who ends up marrying her. Piroj has fallen in love with her, but does not begrudge Pesi his happiness. He decides not to marry, and moves to another city. They keep in touch by mail. Piroj is delighted to hear that Pesi and Jeroo are expecting a baby. He decides to travel to Bombay to visit them. During his visit, Piroj learns that the married life of Pesi and Jeroo is not as he had imagined it. Piroj is horrified to discover that Pesi has a mistress. Jeroo has had a miscarriage which Pesi later informs him, when confronted by Piroj about his mistress, was actually an abortion due to Jeroo's fear of dying in childbirth as her mother had. He is saddened by how Jeroo has changed. She is no longer the pretty girl she was, but appears cantankerous and uncaring. Both she and Pesi are unhappy in their marriage. Piroj resolves not to meet them, but mentally is unable to keep himself aloof. All three carry on with their unhappy lives until Pesi's sudden death. Finally, Piroj discovers that he cannot help Jeroo. Soona (Kiron Kher), Pesi's mistress whom Piroj Shah had thought of as a loose woman, ends up paying for the funeral which Piroj Shah repays to her as he cannot abide the thought that in even his death, Pesi's mistress has a hold on him. In the end, Piroj realizes that life was not what he imagined it would be and it is everybody's journey in life to find and determine what th