The phenomenon of Parsi Theatre that began in the 1850s has shaped the cultural fabric of Mumbai. The actors captured the imagination of their audience and became icons of their time. The Show Must Go On (2022) is directed by siblings Divya and Jall Cowasji. After a long period of being out of the spotlight, ageing icons of the Parsi Theatre, reunited in 2017 to perform a show dedicated to the late Adi Marzban who was a director and playwright who shaped Parsi Theatre in post-independence India.
“You see through the film their immense love and passion and dedication for this craft,” said director Divya Cowasji about the actors while interacting with our students. The film indeed offers an intimate perspective into the relationship that these theatre veterans had with the craft as well as with each other. Often seen joking with each other and rehearsing their dialogues, the actors paint a heartwarming picture capable of moving the viewers to tears.
The discipline and dedication that their generation worked with is personified in Sam Kerawalla, director of the play. Ruby and Burjor Patel, and Bomi and Dolly Dotiwalla are couples that met through this theatre community as young actors, years later and they can be seen reminiscing about their love for theatre and each other in this documentary.
“This was actually never intended to be a film,” said Divya Cowasji, who originally went to simply click pictures and hand them as keepsakes to the veteran actors. “Their zest for life captivated me,” she said and added that the film came together on the edit table two years later.
The film is equal parts heartwarming and melancholic. Bomi Dotiwala joined the rest of the actors for the rehearsal a day after his wife Dolly Dotiwala’s demise “All good things must end,” he says. The show must go on.