Amitabh Bachchan’s co-star Perizaad Zorabian quit films to run Rs 120 cr poultry empire

First break with Fair and Lovely ad, landed Bollywood Calling

Perizaad grew up in an Irani family in Mumbai and always knew that she wanted to be an entrepreneur like her father. “I was 8 and couldn’t even pronounce entrepreneur correctly, but I knew that’s what I wanted to be,” she shared in a chat with Uncovered with Suketu Shah. After finishing her basic education in India, Perizaad travelled to New York for her MBA and chanced upon Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute as one of her friends was studying there. So after finishing her MBA, Perizaad spent one year at the institute. Her father was completely supportive through this but despite spending some time in the creative arts college, Perizaad came back to work at Zorabian’s Chickens.

ALSO READ | Bollywood’s ‘caste system’: Food in A, B, C categories; character actors paid after 90 days

Life had other plans in store as she was spotted by a model co-ordinator at a family gathering and landed her first ad commercial for Fair and Lovely. Her magnetic screen presence led to more opportunities and before she knew it, she was the lead actor for Nagesh Kukunoor’s Bollywood Calling, also starring Om Puri. Nagesh had just made Hyderabad Blues and Rockford, and both films had gained a strong and niche audience.

Perizaad was interested in the opportunity and took one month off from her father’s office to shoot for the film, but since the film did not release for the next couple of years, she continued to work at her father’s office. “I was fully hands-on at Zorabian,” she shared with the YouTube channel Not Your Aunty. A year later, when Pritish Nandy Communications picked up the film, and put her on the poster, she admitted, “My life changed after that.”

‘Wouldn’t get the kind of attention that Karisma Kapoor would get’

Perizaad recalled that this was an interesting time for the movies and she “lucked out.” With very few English-language films being made in India, there were limited actors for the roles, and Perizaad found herself at a place where makers were approaching her to lead films, even though she had no dreams of becoming an actor.

Victor Banerjee and Perizaad Zorabian in Joggers Park.

Films like Morning Raga, Joggers Park, Mumbai Matinee followed soon after, and Perizaad was on her way to becoming a star, but even back then, she was fully aware that this was nothing like mainstream stardom. “I was not a Bollywood star. I wouldn’t get the kind of attention that a Karisma Kapoor would get,” she said.

Recalling how she signed Joggers Park, Perizaad shared that Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts was starting to get into the niche of smaller films and when Ghai chose her, it was largely because she was a recognisable face in that nihe. By then, Perizaad was juggling both – her work at Zorabian’s Chickens, and her work in the movies, and at this point, her father asked her to make a choice between the two, and she chose to be in the movies, and he completely supported her decision.

Perizaad worked with Amitabh Bachchan in Ek Ajnabee, and the widely popular television show Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye, and continued to do theatre. In 2004, she also acted in a Chinese film called Bandung Sonata, where she played Indira Gandhi and spent three months in China.

‘Husband asked to not travel, left movies’

At 33, however, Perizaad stepped away from the movies after she got married, and the decision came, in part, due to her husband Boman Irani, not to be confused with the actor with the same name. “My husband said, ‘Once we get married, I don’t want you to travel’. And my mother was like, ‘What nonsense! How can he say that?’ and my sister-in-law was like, ‘That’s it. Don’t get married. He already knew you were an actor. Why would he say something like that at the last minute?’

Perizaad explained, “He didn’t say you can’t travel. He said, ‘I will wait for you but I would prefer if you didn’t travel’. I didn’t take on another film after that.” In her chat with Suketu Shah, Perizaad shared that her “Biologcal clock was ticking” and she wanted to have children, so she chose to give up movies and welcomed her first child at 34. “I knew the only way to be okay with it was to get pregnant, so I chose to have a family,” she shared with Not Your Aunty.

ALSO READ | 8 people attended star’s funeral after his bankruptcy; Amitabh Bachchan saw him ‘alone, forgotten’

Perizaad recalled that at this time, she rejected many film offers. Ghai offered her Black and White, with Anil Kapoor, and she also had an offer from Nikhil Advani to work in Salaam-e-Ishq, opposite Sohail Khan, but Perizaad refused both these offers. “My mother told my husband, ‘She is a butterfly. Don’t clip her wings because she will wither away and die’,” she recalled.

Standing ovation by 1100 people

And to her relief, her life turned even more beautiful after she tied the knot. Perizzaad worked in theatre, did television shows and had her two children. She recalled being in Feroz Abbas Khan’s play where her husband was actually welcoming the guests. “I had given birth to two children and I was at 48 kgs wearing a pair of shorts and standing in front of 1100 people to a standing ovation,” she recalled.

Since then, Perizaad has mostly focused on developing her business. She joined the business when her father was in debt, and the business was going through its worst phase.

Perizaad Zorabian in a play.

Rs 120 crore turnover

What started as a wholesale company under her father, has now grown into a company doing retail, quick commerce, and ready-to-cook food. She revealed that her company currently employs 700 people and has an annual turnover of Rs 120 crore. Perizaad is proud of the products she sells and revealed that she eats chicken every single day, but does not consume chicken if she is eating out.

She claimed that she is not in competition with the “big boys” of the industry, as they don’t deal with mass production. “I am running a nice niche artisanal boutique brand,” she said.

Perizaad shared that she has dealt with “mom guilt” and “work guilt” all her life. While she loves her work, as this was her childhood dream, she does not get any time for herself. “I need to take time for myself. I don’t meet my friends,” she said.

Coming back to the movies?

Perizaad has no immediate plans of getting back to acting. In a chat with YouTube channel All About Eve, she said that she only wants to take up offers that can justify her time away from her children and her business, as she does not have the luxury of wasting time on a film set. But at some point, if something meaningful crops up, she would happily accept.

DISCLAIMER: This profile highlights the personal and professional journey of a public figure for informational and entertainment purposes.