Perizaad Zorabian made her mark in Bollywood with memorable performances on the big screen in the early 2000s. In her relatively short career in the movies, the actress shared space with some of the industry’s biggest names, including Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Victor Banerjee and Om Puri.
She was at the peak of her career when she decided to quit acting and turned her focus to her family’s poultry business and one of India’s most recognised poultry brands, Zorabian Chicken.
In a recent interview with Suketu Shah, Perizaad shared how she played an active role in scaling their family business into a Rs 120 crore enterprise.
Perizaad Zorabian’s Career Trajectory
Raised in an Iranian family in Mumbai, the former actress always planned to follow in her father’s footsteps into entrepreneurship. After completing her schooling in India, she moved to New York for her MBA and discovered the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute.
Once her MBA was done, she spent a year studying acting there but still returned home to join the family business.
At a family gathering, a model coordinator spotted her and that chance meeting landed her first commercial for Fair & Lovely. Her screen presence quickly opened more doors, and soon she was cast as the lead opposite Om Puri in Nagesh Kukunoor’s Bollywood Calling.
Perizaad took a month off from her father’s office to shoot the film but when the release stalled for two years, she returned to entrepreneurship. A year later, Pritish Nandy Communications acquired the film and put her on the poster. “My life changed after that,” she said.
Perizaad called it an exciting moment for films and said she “lucked out.”
With few English films being made in India, roles were limited and directors sought her out. Morning Raga, Joggers Park and Mumbai Matinee came next, putting her on the path to stardom. Her credits grew to include Ek Ajnabee with Amitabh Bachchan, the TV series Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye and regular theatre work. In 2004, she played Indira Gandhi in the Chinese film Bandung Sonata.
Left Movies To Get Married
At 33, Perizaad quit Bollywood to get married. Her husband, Boman Irani, not to be confused with the actor with the same name, asked her to stop travelling post-marriage. While the demand shocked her family, the actress explained, “He didn’t say you can’t travel. He said, ‘I will wait for you but I would prefer if you didn’t travel’. I didn’t take on another film after that.”
Perizaad shared that her “Biological clock was ticking” and she wanted to start a family. She chose to step away from movies and welcomed her first child at 34.
The entrepreneur has since dedicated herself to the family business, joining Zorabian’s Chickens during a period of heavy debt and decline. She transformed the wholesale company into a diversified brand with retail, quick commerce and ready-to-cook verticals. Perizaad now employs 700 people and reports an annual turnover of Rs 120 crore.
Distinguishing her company from mass producers, Perizaad called it “a nice niche artisanal boutique brand.”