Understanding 20th century Parsi theatre

Meher Marfatia’s coffee-table book, Laughter In The House!, is a comprehensive commentary on 20th century Parsi theatre. Rahul Chandawarkar reports..

For Parsis, Navroze (Parsi New Year) is not complete without a visit to the agiary (fire temple) in the morning, followed by a sumptuous festive lunch with the family and rounded off with the customary Parsi-Gujarati natak (play) in the evening. Not surprising, considering that theatre has been an integral part of Parsi community life from the mid-nineteenth century.

In her lavishly produced, hardbound coffee-table book, Laughter in the House!, Mumbai-based journalist Meher Marfatia has expertly documented the history of Parsi theatre from 1930-2000 in 285 eventful pages. Meher’s crisp copy is backed by black-and-white pictures from the old era and filmmaker-photographer Sooni Taraporevala’s colour photographs of senior Parsi actors. The book also has an audio cassette which features a Parsi qawwali and several songs making the Rs2,250 book a treasure trove for the discerning.

Reading the book is like walking into the pages of history. In circa 1850, you are introduced to the Elphinstone collegians in Mumbai who performed Shakespeare for their college dramatic club. The period 1853-69 alone saw at least 20 Parsi theatre groups being formed in Bombay. Such was the popularity of Parsi theatre, that the play, Raja Harischandra claimed over 4,000 shows from 1892-1922 and Bomanji Kabraji’s tear jerker, Baap Na Shraap ran for 500 nights with front row seats of Rs4 going for Rs22 in the black market.

You are soon brought face-to-face with Adi Marzban (1914-1987), arguably the most gifted and prolific Parsi theatre person of the 20th century. Meher explains how Marzban’s play Piroja Bhavan in 1954 ushered in the birth of modern Parsi theatre. “Piroja Bhavan tracked the travails of a family struggling to spruce up a dead loss of a property and tackle unwelcome visitors. A paean to the pleasures of the simple life, much of its humour came from the problems faced in fixing the dilapidated place,” writes Meher.

Speaking about Marzban, Meher says, “Marzban stood in a class of his own, even in the company of contemporaries like Pheroze Antia, Dorab Mehta and Homi Tavadia. He was the renaissance man because of his wide-ranging knowledge of different fields from literature, art and music to astrology and magic. I cannot name anyone who is anywhere near his standing today.”

Meher spent two-and-a-half years researching the book, a period in which she interviewed a host of surviving Parsi actors from that era, who had worked with the likes of Marzban. Key among them were Sam Kerawalla, Ruby and Burjor Patel, Scheherazade and Rohinton Mody, Dolly and Bomi Dotiwala and Dadi Sarkari among others. Meher says, “They spared any number of hours and were infinitely patient with repeated questions and cross-checking of facts I had to do on a daily basis. Sam would, in fact, joke when he picked up my calls, saying, “Yes darling, what can I do for you today?”

As can be imagined, Meher had many a memorable moment writing the book. “One poignant moment stands out. Dadi Sarkari, one of the most popular stars of the day, was enthusiastic about the book. He was to meet me to take a look at how the dummy of the book was shaping. ‘Lovely, I’ll come wearing a new tie in its honour!’ he declared. He died just the afternoon before the next day we were supposed to meet. I was overwhelmed,” recalls Meher.

According to Meher, modern Parsi theatre is not what it was in Marzban’s era. Meher pins the blame on the dwindling interest in the Gujarati language among Parsi youth.

She says, “There are no new writers of any calibre, who can use the language with the dexterity and aplomb of earlier Parsi-Gujarati dramatists. Nor, with some exceptions, are there talented enough actors. The men and women whose voices you hear across the pages of Laughter In The House! were so genuinely outrageously funny that they had to simply step on to the stage and the audience went hysterical with applause in anticipation of their antics.