In the tragic death of Navroze Contractor, who was killed in an horrific motorcycle accident near Hosur, Tamil Nadu on 18th June, 2023, we have lost a long time Kota Heritage Society friend, member and supporter.

Known internationally as a cinematographer, photographer and motorcycle enthusiast (he was riding his Kawasaki Z650 at the time), few would have known of his relationship with us all at KHS.

Navroze filmed Madan's documentary 'Jharoo Katha' (Broom Stories) in 2010 and has been back regularly to Kota since, sometimes with his wife, Deepa Dhanraj, filming for her.

Navroze went on to curate exhibitions for us at the Kota Art Gallery:

Starting with 'Kushti' in 2017. Combined with photographs of modern day Kota akhadas and wrestlers we were able to attract hundreds of people to the Art Gallery who had never been before. Navroze shared KHS's vision of trying to engage those normally excluded from art galleries and each time conjured up something fresh and new.

Anuj Ambalal's 'In Search of Bapu' was a popular show in 2019 to be followed by Vivek Desai's 'Circus and Me'. In 2021 'Visual Poetries' by Saurabh Desai brought wildlife photography alive in the Art Gallery, particularly the snow leopards of Ladakh.

Navroze's final achievement was in inspiring his life long friend Archana Shah to turn her book 'Crafting the Future' into an interactive exhibition. The day before he died, Navroze was planning future events in Kota.

In July Navroze would have celebrated his 79^th birthday. Navroze lived life to the full and has touched the lives of countless people tthroughout India and abroad with his love for life, his energy, boundless sense of humour and deep humanity.

We will miss you greatly, Navroze.