Parsi naataks miss the rich sonic texturing lent by the late greats, Kersi Mistry, Dara Mehta and Sarosh Bhabha Music...
Theater Articles
Why bitter can’t be better
Why have Parsi natak audiences been rejecting plays that don’t sugarcoat the pill?What were you thinking? How can you...
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,...
Raise the curtains: The Buckingham Secret
This new play is a comedy on the secrets of Buckingham Palace Secrets will be revealed at the premiere of NCPA’s fifth production. The Buckingham Secret, set against the backdrop of Buckingham...
Parsi Natak, Jivto Reh
After a long lull, Parsi-Gujarati theatre gets a shot in the arm with young talent from the community dishing out fresh stories, Bawa-flavoured. Article by Reema Gehi, Mumbai Mirror Last Saturday on...
All that Mawa drama
An age-old Parsi eatery announces that it’s going to shut down. Soon, media houses start speculating about the reasons and publish reams of stories glorifying the outlet and its rich history. In no...
Rare, raw & exhilarating: Shiamak Davar’s Selcouth is a visual treat
Selcouth, according to Shiamak Davar, means ‘rare,’ and the performance his group put on under that name is certainly that. Rare, as in rarely has something as ambitious and accomplished been seen...
We cannot allow ourselves to be broken: Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal
A woman stood at the heavenly gates, Her face was scarred and old. She stood before the man of fate for admission to the fold. “What have you done,” St Peter asked, “To gain admission here?” “I’ve...
Akuri with thespians: The Kotwals
What could be better than to start Monday morning with Akuri (just one more of the great contributions that the Parsis have bequeathed to India) with friends and noted theatre veterans — Mahabanoo...
A comedy of errors finds favour with audience: Dinyar Tirandaz
When Parsi actors get together to stage a comedy, you can be sure of a laugh riot. Harish Chandra Bijo, staged at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival on day one on Saturday, sent audiences back home with...
The theatre actor was also good at selling advertisement space
I boarded a train that made just four stops in 55 years. Author: Burjor Patel Source: DNA India Let me start today with my first destination: Jam-e-Jamshed, a Gujarati newspaper catering largely to...
To live on for the moments that take one's breath away
When I decided to call my call column Life Begins At 80, my wife asked: "Do you want to admit to the world you are past 80?" I understand that would be a sin for a woman! By Burjor Patel |...
How Sohrab Modi won over Prithviraj Kapoor
In this special series, we re-visit great Hindi film classics. Today, we look back at Prithviraj Kapoor and Sohrab Modi's 1941 film Sikander. By Sukanya Verma | Rediff Sikander ne Porous se ki thi...
Revisit The Parsi Natak
The city’s Gujarati speakers of an older vintage will fondly recall the plays of Adi Marzban, the playwright and director who was synonymous with Parsi nataks from the 1940s to the 1980s. by Pronoti...
Burjor Patel: Back in Service at 82
Actor Burjor Patel, Adi Marzban’s collaborator on modern Gujarati theatre, gets back to Mumbai, and acting after 20 years Ayaz Memon | TNN Burjor Patel resurfaced in viewer consciousness when an...
Reliving the Parsiana andaaz
Laughter In The House: A Tribute To Adi Marzban is back on popular demand after it premiered two months ago as a homage to the veteran Parsi director Journalist Meher Marfatia still recalls how, as...
Adi Marzban Night: A standing ovation for Parsi nostalgia
Nostalgia was the lead player. Tuesday night, and the Tata theatre was packed to the rafters. There was room left only for laughter. Laughter in the House revived the magic of Adi Marzban whose...
Hasva Chalo Ji!
On the occasion of Parsi theatre stalwart Adi Marban's 98th birth anniversary, which falls on April 17, get your fix of his best works, gags, sketches and music that promise to bring alive poignant...
Astad Deboo: The Dancing Vagabond
There sits a man, all of 64 years, in his white splendour. At about five feet seven inches tall, despite his age, he holds himself with the same vitality he’s always had since the dawn of his career...
A chronicle of Parsi theatre’s heyday
For Parsis growing up between the 1950s and 1980s, social life was defined by weekly visits to the theatre, to watch, re-watch and enjoy Parsi plays. Directors like Adi Marzban and Pheroze Antia...
Laughter In The House: Meher Marfatia On Parsi Theatre
That Sunday afternoon was as soggy with nostalgia as a khari biscuit dunked in chai. Fifty old troupers of Mumbai's Parsi stage had reunited to celebrate a new book, Laughter in the House. They met...
Playwright Nozer Buchia: Vari Baanna Paachhal Thi
Nozer Buchia has been writing, directing and acting in plays for over 25 years under the banner of Nozer Buchia Productions. The latest play to release on stage is “Vari Baanna Paachhal Thi”...
Parsi theatre group from Surat in Karachi for play
Surat-based Yezdi Karanjia drama group, which is due to mark its Golden Jubilee this year, will perform a Parsi comedy play “Kutra Ni Punchdi Vanki” in Karachi, where the troupe comprising mostly...
Stories from the Persian crypt
An art of Persian storytelling that saw stories of magic, warfare and adventures. An art that was immensely popular in India in the 16th century, but witnesses a slow death. But thanks to people...
Parsi Theater Personality Silloo Mahava R.I.P.
The following is a write-up submitted by Dr. Arnavaz Havewala Silloo Aunty, as she was affectionately, was a well-known actor.She has acted in several English Movies – ‘TRYING TO...
Parsi theatre blooms on New Year, struggles on other days
For Farah Ghadialy (27), Parsi New Year has always been about tradition. The day begins with prayer at the fire temple and ends with a family celebration in the one way that Parsis love — watching a...
Delna Mody: When Art Meets Life
In her debut play under the banner of her new theatre production house Orange Dinghy, Delna Mody, who is collaborating with one of Parsi theatre’s biggest directors Sam Kerawala for her project,...
Loose Talk: Parsi Comedy
This is a hilarious video clip of famous Pakistani actor Moin Akhtar playing a Parsi bawaji.
Parsi Theater Revival
A dearth of new scripts may have theatre veteran Sam Kerawalla worried about the decline of Parsi theatre, but on the eve of Parsi New Year, he's decided to leave Mumbai laughing with a 1970s play,...
The Influence of Early Parsi Theater
The early influences of Parsi Theater on the film scene today… The dominance of Urdu has a lot to do with the origins of the film industry in Bombay. There were roughly two major influences — the...
Playwright Meher Pestonji: Feeding Crows
The small Parsi community has often presented a universal picture, albeit with the help of Parsi writers. The latest voice to join this force belongs to Meher Pestonji. This Mumbai-based writer’s...
Tales from Firozsha Baag now a play in New Zealand
Indian Newslink from NZ reports A play around migration and its conflicts is at the heart of an ambitious new project of the Auckland based theatre group Prayas. Following the success of its earlier...
Sohrab Wadia: Jihad The Musical
Sorab Wadia sings the part of Hussein Al Mansour in the Edinburgh Fringe Production of JIHAD THE MUSICAL. Costumes by Deb O. Choreography by Bethany Samuelson. See...
Gustadji Ghode Chadhya
Surprise is the spice of drama. "Don't think Gustadji is going to ride a horse in the play as a groom," director of Gustadji Ghode Chadhya' Yazdi Karanjia tells the audience, "one rides different...
Nazneen Contractor’s long, strange trip to ‘The Border’
As customs agent Layla Hourani on "The Border" -- which airs Mondays on CBC Television -- Nazneen Contractor is almost a genre of one. Hourani defies both the Western stereotype of the submissive...
Gieve Patel: Mister Behram
Mister Behram and Other Plays puts the spotlight on Gieve Patel, the dramatist Decades have passed since the talented cast and crew of Princes, Savaksa and Mister Behram took a bow. Their stage run...
Avesthagen and Mallika Sarabhai present “And They Came to India”
Avesthagen Limited, India's leading Life Sciences Company brings to you, in association with Mallika Sarabhai and Darpana, an original dance theatre performance celebrating the historic journey of...
A regrettable concession to fanaticism
In light of the recent furore in Bombay over the Jaya Bacchan remarks, here is a nice piece on Adi Marzban and the parsi nataks of yore. Of what utility is the fundamental right of free speech if in...
And Then They Came To India: Dance Theatre
Histories and memories always had the best stories to tell. Stories that were inspirations and eye-openers, stories made of realities and half-truths. And stories that could unfurl in movements and...
Bollywood’s Best Bawas
Perhaps one of the most tolerant and accommodating communities in India, Parsis have often been at the receiving end of humour. And if there’s someone who has cashed in maximum moolah by adding a...
Of Parsi and modern Hindi theatre
PATNA: When it comes to setting standards in theatre, every Bihari Hindi theatre artist or director invokes the lessons learnt at the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi. Ironically,...
“Memoirs of Zarir” in Tehran
Iranian director and actor Qotbeddin Sadeqi plans to stage "The Memoirs of Zarir" at the Chaharsu Hall of Tehran's City Theater Complex in the near future. His troupe, consisting of Mikaiil...
Parsi theatre academy to come up in Surat
To breathe a new life into Parsi theatre in the state, the first ever Parsi theatre academy in the country will start functioning soon in Surat. The academy is expected to play a crucial role in...
Kayhan Irani: Artivist with a cause
Kayhan Irani's play, 'We've Come Undone,' has been playing to audiences around the nation since 2003. From Harlem to the streets of Baghdad, all the world's a stage for actress, playwright and...
Lily Don’t be Silly
For Parsis, the New Year play is an annual family tradition...and there's one enthusiast who's giving out 500 free tickets! August 18: Philandering husband Savak finds it tough to manage with wife...
Indian Cowboy
Throughout Indian Cowboy, performer and playwright Zaraawar Mistry asks us to "connect the dots" of his narrator's life. Yet the dots don't necessarily add up in this premiere production at Mixed...