Why bitter can’t be better

What were you thinking How can you do this I cried in your playrdquo That was Hindi film character actor David Abraham chiding Adi Marzban backstage after the opening night of Asha Nirasha in 1968Like David thousands of theatregoers simply could not accept the bleakness of this worthy sequel to the popular Sagan Ke Vagan Critically hailed but commercially nixed Asha Nirasha examined the trajectory of loneliness loss and bereavement No matter that cardiologist Rustom Vakil complimented Dolly Dotiwala for her completely convincing heart attack scene the overall gravitas made the production bomb Sensitively scripted competently acted and meticulously rehearsed for eight months it closed after eight shows Bomsie Nicholson and Rohinton Mody in Aay Calendar KonnuAsha Nirasha was actress Scheherazade Modyrsquos first play with Marzban ldquoHe planned for it to be grimmerrdquo she recalls ldquoEven what pathos was presented didnrsquot go down well Despite lighter lines audiences sawmdashand rejectedmdashthe seriousness Only one word associated with Parsi nataks stuck in a groove of their minds comedyrdquoDrama being the dominant form of entertainment in urban India from the 1860s to the 1930s influenced by British travelling troupes Parsi companies performed on proscenium stages decorated with heavily painted curtains which rose on declamatory acting and mechanical devices creating spectacular effectsBomi and Dolly Dotiwala with Pervez Mehta centre in Sagan Ke Vagan the prequel to Asha NirashaThis theatre took a new turn postIndependence its standard bearers being writers of the stature of Marzban Pheroze Antia Dorab Mehta and Homi Tavadia ldquoNot a single of Pherozersquos scripts had any room for negativityrdquo says his actress wife Moti ldquoFans said Saara dara per aapuneh rarvu nathi we wonrsquot weep on festive daysrdquoCredited with more versatility Marzban was challenged to switch genres or combine them ldquoAdi canrsquot you write a thrillerrdquo he used to be badgered ldquoBe the Indian Alfred Hitchcockrdquo Not one to refuse a challenge he pondered over it The result was Ardhi Raate Aafat Reviewers lauded his masterly interspersing of scary tension with moments of mirth pulled off with panache by the cracker of a cast comprising Homi Tavadia Dolly and Bomi Dotiwala Ruby and Burjor Patel Dadi Sarkari Pervez Mehta Jangoo Irani and Hilla Nariman Keeping viewers spooked Marzban dexterously changed the murdererrsquos identity in some shows Fans of the suspense saga still applaud the fear factor conveyed so effectively Replete with spookily creaking doors flickering bulbs and sound effects from barking dogs and howling winds its supernatural leitmotif popped up as a hideous hand Strong men in the audience jumped in seats they were already teetering on the edges of when a black caped figure stuck it out from the bookcase in a creepy homeIn 1953 a UNESCO scholarship took Marzban to southern Californiarsquos Pasadena Playhouse to study theatre arts Influenced by the humour of P G Wodehouse James Thurber W W Jacobs Robert Benchley and Stephen Leacock closer home it was Chandravadan Mehta and eager to implement what he imbibed his writing and direction infused realism in Parsi dramaWith Piroja Bhavan in 1954 he birthed a whole new stage lexicon Parsi theatre finally moved from bloodandthunder Sohrab and Rustam Harishchandra and Shakuntala to plots tackling themes of relevance and universality including trouble in love marital complications inheritance illness and old ageldquoAay Calendar Konnu focused on a woman impregnated with donated spermrdquo says Scheherazade Mody ldquoBomsie Nicholson played the donor my husband Rohinton was one of Dolly Dotiwalarsquos suitorsrdquoRealism was just about all right Tragedy never Despite sensing the resistance to the infusion of deep content Marzban attempted to address contemporary concerns sporadically That was how Mancherji Konna was strategically set against the backdrop of IndoChina hostilities and Pakar Maru Puchhru fronted Bombay Parsi Panchayet politicsIt was not easy going against the grain Audiences in anticipation of a rollicking evening failed to turn thoughts to opposite issues of conflict They could not appreciate being called on to soulsearch their way through a subject like euthanasia which Marzban brought to the forefront in Jeevan Khel his last production with Bomi and Dolly DotiwalaldquoJeevan Khel was far ahead of its time People could not bear dealing with this because it came from Adirdquo said Dolly who played mother to a boy battling terminal illness Ironically and perhaps because of his own condition Marzban picked this play to explore possibilities He was directing it from the confines of his bed as he coped with the ravages of lung cancer On his passing away in February 1987 Shailesh Dave directed a few shows Describing the selfconscious awkward response to sad stories actor Dinyar Tirandaz says ldquoSlotting us viewers are reluctant to see a small subplot that canrsquot always be fully funny Faced with sombreness people often laugh all the same Inappropriately nervously but they laugh not knowing what else to dordquoPublic perception presumed Marzban incapable of generating anything but laughter So much so that he too came to believe their assumption and justify it In a 1971 interview to Bachi Karkaria he said ldquoPeople donrsquot leave tragedy behind at home to discover it has stalked them into the auditorium When Godrsquos in his heaven and allrsquos well with the world people can with relieved detachment watch tragedy Not otherwiserdquoMeherzad Patel of Silly Point Productions reasons ldquoThe crux of the situation is that people want to laugh Full stop Be it for a festive occasion or on a regular day people step out for an entire eveningmdashthe play followed by dinner and conversation The last thing you want is to try pushing away office pressures and domestic disputes only to fall back into similar experiences Comedy makes you forget problems Online platforms take care of your emotional quotient the chillers with murders and bloodshed Live performances are expected to entertain thatrsquos all there is to it todayrdquoNavroz Mubarak now With wishes for a big bellyful of corny as hellyet spirit lifting laughs in the hall to which yoursquore headed08No of Asha Nirasha shows