Occupation Theatre personality Died February 1987, Mumbai Role Theatre Director | Name Adi Marzban Spouse(s) Silla | |
Born 17 April 1914 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Parents Pherozeshah Jehangir Marzban Awards Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Theatre - Direction | ||
Adi Pherozeshah Marzban (1914 - 1987) was an Indian theatre personality known for his efforts in modernizing Parsi theatre. A Parsi by birth, he was a director, playwright and broadcaster. A winner of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1970, Marzban was honoured by the Government of India in 1964, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his services to the nation.
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Biography
Adil Pherozeshah Marzban was born on 17 April 1914 to Pherozeshah Jehangir Marzban, a known dramatist who wrote under the nom de plume, Pijam and the author of plays such as Mazandaran, Maasi no Maako and Makhai Mohoro, in Mumbai, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. Born in the lineage of Fardunjee Marzban, the founder of Jam-e-Jamshed and Mumbai Samachar, both Gujarati newspapers, he did his schooling at Bharda New High School and graduated from Elphinstone College in 1933. It was during this time, he met his future producer and colleague, Pesi Khandavala. He started his career as a publicity officer for Western India Theatres but left the job to take up the editorial work of his family newspaper, Jam-e-Jamshed, in 1936, simultaneously working for Gupsup, a monthly humour magazine.
Marzban started directing plays at the turn of the 50s and staged plays such as Sacred Flame, Time and the Conways, Hawk Island, The Curious Savage and The Little Hut in English and Fasela Ferozeshah and Hasta Gher Vasta in Gujarati. In 1953, receiving a scholarship from UNESCO, he went to Pasadena Playhouse for advanced training in theatre arts. Returning to India, he joined Kala Kendra at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and wrote and directed Piroja Bhavan in 1954. a landmark event in Parsi theatre and his first collaboration with Pesi Khandavala. The play, a commercial success, shifted the focus of Parsi theatre from historical dramas to farces and comedies and featured such renowned technicians as Burjor Mistry, Anand Pai and Shahdeo.
Marzban was active in drama societies such as Amateur Dramatic Circle, Theatre Group, the Indian People's Theatre Association, The Bombay Players, The Players Guild and Parsee Arts Circle and brought together many known theatre personalities like William Linford, Oovernaya Burekhan, Jimmy Pocha, Bachi Chaina, Homi Narielwala, Naju Bhabha, Jehangir Anklesaria, Aloo Dubash, Piloo Sethna and Coomi Karani. He is known to have staged over 100 plays in Parsi language and wrote around 5000 scripts for the All India Radio including Budhi Dhansaak Mandal, in addition to several TV programmes such as Aavo Mari Sathe and the quiz series, What's the Good Word? He also wrote the screenplay for the film, On Wings of Fire, a film on the history of Zoroastrianism directed by Cyrus Bharucha, featuring Zubin Mehta. He was a trained musician and could play the piano, guitar, clarinet, keyboards and ukulele. He also learnt painting under Walter Langhammer, an Austrian painter. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1964 and he received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1970.
Marzban was married to Silla, a TV personality and a littérateur, and the couple resided at Chapsey Terrace, along Altamount Road in Mumbai. A smoker by choice, Marzban was diagnosed with lung cancer which forced him to quit the habit and in February 1987, he died at the age of 72, succumbing to the disease.
Major productions
The first notable play from Marzban was a thriller by name, Ardhi Raate Aafat. This was followed by a spate of productions, serious plays, comedies and farces.
Silla, his wife, has set up an endowment in Marzban's honour under the name, Adi Marzban Endowment Fund, under the aegis of the National Centre for the Performing Arts.