Adi Pherozeshah Marzban Biography 
Adi Pherozeshah Marzban, shortly called Adi Marzban was a legendary Parsi theatre personality of the 20th century. This Gujarati artist was known as a playwright, actor, director and broadcaster, who played a magnificent role in popularizing and modernizing Parsi theatre in the 20th century. For his overall contributions towards the field of art and Parsi theatre, he was honoured with 4th civilian honour Padma Shri by government of India in 1964 and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1970. He passed away in Mumbai in 1987 at the age of 72. He was a trained musician who could play different musical instruments.
Adi Pherozeshah Marzban, the doyen of Parsi theatre was born in Mumbai on 17 April 1914 to Pherozeshah Jehangir Marzban, a dramatist. Following his father’s footsteps he too reached the same field. He belongs to the family of Fardunjee Marzban, the founder of prominent Gujarati magazines - Jam-e-Jamshed and Mumbai Samachar. He graduated from Elphinstone College in 1933. He got drawn towards theatre during his college, after his meeting with Pesi Khandavala, with whom he started a new career in the field of theatre.
Adi’s active career as a playwright and director started in the early 1950s in the post-independent period, when popularity of theatre has started diminishing. Initially he directed many plays in Gujarati and English languages, followed by Parsi. Sacred Flame, Hasta Gher Vasta, Time and the Conways, Hawk Island etc are some of his early plays. He took advanced training in theatre arts from Pasadena Playhouse in US. He joined Kala Kendra at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan soon after his return, and later wrote and directed many landmark plays. Piroja Bhavan proved to be a major turning point of his career, for which he collaborated with Pesi Khandavala for the first time. After the commercial success of the play, he fully concentrated on Parsi theatre.
Published: November 07, 2019
Updated: November 07, 2019
