Our dearest friend and legendary Parsi theater artist Yazdi Karanjia has started a series of short skits during the...
Theater Articles
Pestonji Na Parakram: A Parsi Gujarati Natak by ZAGNY
Over the last two weekends the Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York (ZAGNY) presented the world ONLINE premiere...
Theater Loses A Gem: Bomi Kapadia Passes Away
Ad man and playwright Rahul da Cunha pays tribute to actor Bomi Kapadia, who died on Monday.“When beggars die, there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.” –...
Theatre personality Ruby Patel passes away
Ruby Patel was a name to reckon with on the Parsi-Gujarati stage. Ruby along with her husband Burjor Patel worked in several Gujarati comedies till the 1960s. Article in the Indian Express Ruby...
Toronto Parsis to Livestream Parsi Natak
Madan Ni Mansik HospitalWhen: 18 Apr 2020 7:00 PM, EDTWhere: OnlineEVENT DETAILS:Premier NatakMadan Ni Mansik HospitalBrought to you by the Toronto Parsi Drama GroupThe COVID-19 pandemic continues...
Theatre legend Yazdi Karanjia felicitated for keeping Parsi theatre alive in state
“There are just 67,000 Parsis left in the world, but they give an impression of a million because people like Yazdi Karanjia have dedicated their lives for a good cause,’’ said actor and theatre...
Bawas Got Talent: One for the community
Bawas Got Talent is a chance for the Parsi community to showcase their skills in the performing artsThe Parsi community may be small and dwindling in number but that hasn’t proved to be a deterrent...
Yazdi Karanjia Awarded Padma Shri
Our dearest friend, mentor and legendary theater artist Yazdi Naoshirwan Karanjia has been conferred the Padma Shri Award in the list of names that were announced on the eve of Republic Day 2020 in...
When grandeur ruled Parsi theatre
For over a 100 years starting from 1850, a large number of proscenium theatres were built in the large cities, particularly Bombay and Calcutta.A Parsi theatre troupe (File photo)By FEISAL ALKAZI |...
Adi Pherozeshah Marzban – Doyen of Indian theatre who modernized Parsi theatre in the second half of 1900s
Adi Pherozeshah Marzban, also known as Adi Marzban (1914–1987) was a doyen of Parsi theatre in the post-independent period. Though he has directed and stage plays in English and Gujarati languages...
Drama in the house
A veteran stage actor walks down memory lane and recounts the time when Parsi Theatre blossomed in the city.If one has to trace the legacy of Parsi Theatre in the city, it goes back to 1850s, when...
Jamshedji Framji Madan: The Indian Theatre Magnate
Jamshedji Framji Madan, professionally called J.F.Madan was an Indian theatre and film magnate who was the pioneer of film production in India. He was born to a Parsi family in Mumbai in the year...
Understanding 20th century Parsi theatre
During 1857- 1930 big theatre companies which were largely owned by Parsi business community flourished which used to showcase plays in Gujarati, Hindi and Urdu languages. In the early 1900s, some...
Naatak nights on Tejpal heights
Capers to thrillers, Parsi plays have enjoyed great runs at the 59-year-old Tejpal Auditorium in Gowalia Tank. Tracing the journey of this drama genre here, ahead of Navroze weekThe young guard...
Shernaz Patel: Theatre is not a stepping stone for cinema
I have done many other things. First, I thought of becoming a psychologist.It has been 35 years since Shernaz Patel debuted with the play, The Diary of Anne Frank. Excerpts from her time in Indian...
How to Get Away With Murder’s Behzad Dabu to Star in Put Your House in Order at La Jolla Playhouse
The world premiere from Chicago-based playwright Ike Holter begins previews June 2.Article by Adam Hetrick | PlaybillBehzad Dabu (How to Get Away with Murder), Linda Libby (Ether Dome), and Shannon...
It’s There To Stay: Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal On The Vagina Monologues
“Let’s just start with the word “vagina.” It sounds like an infection at best, maybe a medical instrument: “Hurry nurse, bring me the vagina.” “Vagina.” “Vagina.” Doesn’t matter how many times you...
A play in Mumbai on Parsis called Geedra of Thrones
A play that imagines a world with no Parsis reminds us why we need them more than everThere are people outside of Mumbai, who think Parsis are a figment of our imagination. "You can't blame them,"...
Jhalawar’s century-old Parsi theatre getting a facelift
Nearly half the work in the restoration and facelifting of the century-old Parsi Opera Theatre at Bhawani Natyashala in Jhalawar has been completed, state government officials said.The Rajasthan...
Dinyar Contractor Awarded 2019 Padma Shri Award
The brilliant theater legend Dinyar Contractor has been awarded the Padma Shri Award by the Goverment of India in 2019. The awards announced on the eve of the Republic Day are a testament to...
Theater: Class Act by Meherzad Patel
Meherzad Patel’s The Class Act promises plenty of laughs this weekend While city folk maybe in splits now with the Bangalore Comedy Fest, those who wish for more laughs could check out Meherzad...
Behzad Dabu: How To Get Away With Murder
Breakout roles are a dream for most actors and actresses. Frankly, they are hard to come by. Every performer wants that role that will bring them instant recognition and take their...
Amar Akbar Akoori: Play at the NCPA
Amar Akbar Akoori is a hilarious Gujarati play meant not just for the Parsi community, but to be enjoyed by anyone who speaks Gujarati. The story revolves around three boys - a Gujarati, a Bohri...
Still Chuckling After All These Years
Parsi revue Laughter in the House 2 is a cornucopia of guilty pleasures One would perhaps not have imagined the Bee Gees song ‘Stayin’ Alive’ to be as felicitous to the boulevards of Ballard Estate,...
Laughter rings in the house again
Five years after Laughter In The House sparked magic at the box office, the golden oldies of Parsi theatre are back with a sequel By Anju Maskeri | Posted 05-Feb-2017 Burjor Patel, Rashna Karai and...
Edward Talkies: Small Talk with Fred Poonawala
Edward Theatre is seeking a cultural revival after surviving a dark tunnel of the single screen's demise Slated to open towards the end of the month, the Goethe Institut's ambitious Poets...
Maharukh Chichgar: A Parsi Woman Taking On The World
During 8th to 10th century, when Parsi community migrated from Greater Iran to Gujarat, nobody imagined how beautifully this community will adopt the land of India and the people of this region....
White House Honours Kayhan Irani as Champion of Change
Good friend of Parsi Khabar, and an amazingly talented artist, writer and theater personality Kayhan Irani goes to the White House !!! From AAM On Wednesday, the White House will recognize ten...
Hamlet No Omlette: A time for Natak
Parsi theatre was the first to realise the full commercial potential of Shakespeare’s works. The result was King Lear as comedy and a farce called Hamlet No Omelette. The curtains of the spare,...
The show must go on: Parsi Theater in Surat
Fun, love and laughter are the traits of the rarest form of plays enacted at the Parsi Theatre in the city. The Diamond City has raised hopes of theatre lovers that such form of plays would be...
Behzad Dabu: In Conversation with Showbiz Chicago
Showbiz Chicago Interviews: JEFF Award Nominee BEHZAD DABU February 21st 2016 Showbiz Chicago Feature Editor Stacey Crawley catches up with 2015 JEFF Award Nominee Behzad Dabu, who returns to the...
Meher Mistry In Lead Role in Disney’s ‘Beauty And The Beast’
Meher Mistry: Destiny’s child Dadar girl Meher Mistry on how she turned princess for the lead role in Disney’s ‘Beauty And The Beast’ When Meher Mistry walks in for a chat at a cosy café in Mumbai’s...
Draame-Bawaas | Parsi Theatre Competition
Witness the finals of the Draame-Bawaas one-act play competition, in which four finalist teams, rigorously mentored by veteran artistes, perform a quartet of sparkling productions. The competition...
The Second Coming
Draame-Bawaas, a competition of one-act plays, aims to give a new lease of life to Parsi theatre. FOR me, theatre is religion,” says Sam Kerawalla, 84, one of Parsi theatre’s greats. Trained as an...
Woman with ties to Gainesville starring in movie about Mother Teresa
Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal is major character in 'The Letters' When Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal was a little girl, she loved being on stage. Article by Kristen Oliver Gainesville Times But she set aside her...
Najamal Welcomes Vohumai
Najamai is thrilled to welcome her new daughter-in-law...Of course as long as she is " whitish" !
Actor Behzad Dabu Recounts his Journey with “Disgraced”
Behzad Dabu follows in the footsteps of his parents Binaifer and Navroz who both are theater personalities in Syracuse NY and his maternal grandfather the legendary theater personality Yazdi...
Remembering Adi Marzban
Walking in the tracks of Marzban mania Were he with us, puckish humour and wacky wit intact, Parsi theatre’s finest writer-director Adi Marzban would have been 101. Generations of ardent fans agree...
Parsis once dominated English theatre
The first family of Parsi theatre on memorable productions, new travelling plays and drinking wine on stage To talk theatre with them is to breathe a living legacy. Actor-producers Ruby and Burjor...
Are you bawa enough to act?
The golden age of Parsi-Gujarati theatre may be long over, but a few drama-loving bawas are determined to revive it. Theatre veteran Burjor Patel, his daughter Shernaz Patel, lighting director Sam...
If boys will be boys, girls will be girls: Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal
In a year when our collective consciousness has been shocked by the horrific treatment of women across the country, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal - one of the India’s best-known feminists and playwrights -...
The Dabu Couple wins over Syracuse theater scene, 20 years running
Hints of spice waft in swirls of steam. Pastel teacups brimming with brewed Indian chai rest on the sanded wood of a low table. Binaifer Dabu and her husband Navroz Dabu sit side-by-side on their...
Yazdi Karanjia Felicitated in Baroda
This year, the World Theater Day was celebrated at Vadodara by Triveni in a unique way, as they invited Yazdi Karanjia, the doyen of Parsi Theater, who delivered a humorous talk about his theater...
Operation Theater at the Parsee General Hospital
What would you make of “Manchu Macbeth” and “Hamlet no Omelette”? Shakespeare with a delicious twist, yes. But dramatically different too was the fact that these Gujarati spoofs were stirred up in...
Majestic Talkies Ajmer: Closing the first and the oldest Cinema of Rajasthan
Closing the first and the oldest Cinema of Rajasthan Maj. (Rtd.) Noshir K. Marfatia writes: With tears in my eyes and a very heavy heart I have to inform all that we are closing the first and the...
Reviving Parsi Drama
Apart from saving the Parsi community from extinction, theatrewallahs must take the onus of saving their rich cultural heritage as well! We're talking about the revival of Parsi-Hindi rangmanch....
Paradise Cinema: 100 years of marquee magic
The Dubash family behind Paradise, Mahim's iconic single screen, celebrates a century in cinema. Imagine enjoying a Mahim traffic jam. That's how it was for me sometimes before the Sea Link rose. By...
Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal: In Conversation
Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, an actress of repute and the power behind the wildly successful Vagina Monologues in India; speaks candidly at a recent event in Mumbai. For the second guest of the day in...
Danesh Irani: The Last Parsi
Why this Parsi stand-up comedian doesn't want to be seen in a pair of shorts! Danesh Irani in conversation with Glynda Alves | The Economic Times Describe yourself in 140 characters. 140...
That’s the Parsi way
There is something to be said about Parsis their sense of humour is unique. Maybe they tend to make fun of themselves before others do, as a defence mechanism, considering their minuscule...
The Buckingham Secret: Review
Writer-director Meherzad Patel's latest stage offering, The Buckingham Secret, couldn't have made its debut at a better time. After all, the British Royal Family is once again in the news, with...
Meherzad Patel: Celebrating the Parsi way of life via theatre
Through all its plays, Meherzad Patel's theatre company, Silly Point Productions, celebrates the Parsi way of life. As the company turns six, we look at its journey, and how Patel created a niche,...