Theatre legend Farrokh Mehta dies, curtain falls over 6-decade-long career

“His spirit and curiosity were such that he was probably the youngest member of our family,” said Anahita, adding that Farrokh was a really positive and forward-thinking person, with an amazing sense of humour. Anahita and her father were due to give a virtual talk on ‘English Theatre in Mumbai’ next weekend. “I am going to do it for him.”

In his career — spanning over six decades — Mehta acted in more than 30 English plays including iconic Tughlaq by Girish Karnad, Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story, Partap Sharma’s A Touch of Brightness, and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. He had also directed another seven plays for the Theatre Group Bombay (TGB) comprising himself and members like Pearl and Alyque Padamsee, and Gerson da Cunha among others. Besides, he also acted in Gujarati plays and a few Hindi films.

Pearl and Alyque’s daughter Raell Padamsee remembers Farrokh as someone who was “extremely fun-loving”. When asked about her favourite play, Raell instantly picked Death of a Salesman, adding that it was also Farrokh’s favourite. The play — written by American playwright Arthur Miller — was directed by Alyque, a noted theatre personality and advertisement filmmaker.

“Multiple productions of this play took place over the years,” said Quasar Padamsee, theatre director and founder of Thespo, a youth theatre group based. Quasar also said that the first production was out sometime in the 1960s, and the last in 2016. “It had many actors including my mother Dolly Thakore and actor Sabira Merchant. But while most actors continued to change, the only two static actors were Alyque and Farrokh,” he laughed. Thespo bestowed Farrokh with Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. “He was always the character actor. He did an amazing job playing Groucho Marks in Man Who Came To Dinner and His role as Gravedigger in Hamlet is something no one can forget… He was the foundation upon which other actors could become mavericks. He would let his co-actors shine,” said Quasar.

Sabira Merchant, who acted with Farrokh in three plays, remembers him as a very gentle human being. “While actors always want to do things on their own, he was a very caring and giving co-actor. He would always say ‘Do not worry, I can do it this way’ to accommodate his co-actors,” she recalled.

The legacy, it seems, is not just restricted to his contribution to the field of theatre. Another co-actor Dolly Thakore said, “He was very kind, and I will always remember how he and Vijaya were the first ones to not only accept but also embrace Alyque and my relationship when we had decided to be together (Alyque was previously married to Pearl).”

While Farrokh was a good friend to many actors from his generation, including Alyque, Pearl, Dolly, Sabira, Dalip Tahil, and Kabir Bedi among others, he was also a favourite of the next generation. “My father (Alyque) and Farrokh went to school together, and they remained close friends all their life. Our families would go to Lonavala and Khandala together, and he was very fun to be around,” recalled Raell, adding that the Padamsee family refers to him as “magsy”. One of the earliest memories of Farrokh — who served as a director at top multinational companies such as Pfizer and Cadbury — was bringing cartons full of big bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk, she added.

Quasar, after returning from the funeral, mentioned that everybody talked about his kind nature. “He was always the favourite person in every room. And it was only because he could make you — irrespective of if you are a veteran or a newbie — feel good, even if you were having a really bad day. You would not even have to discuss your problems with him, that’s how good he was. He was not just my father’s best friend, but mine too,” he said.