Hosi Vasunia

Hosi Vasunia grew up in Mumbai and attended St. Xavier's School and Sydenham College.[4][5]

Vasunia credited a Spanish Jesuit priest in his school St. Xavier's for introducing him to the theatre.[5] An early appearance for Vasunia was in Princes (1970), a play written by Gieve Patel and directed by Pearl Padamsee. The play was reviewed as "a moving portrait of the dying fortunes of a proud Parsi family", and the cast also included Pearl Padamsee herself, Yasmin Richmond, Alyque Padamsee, and Erna Vatchaghandy.[6] Vasunia's first line in that play was "Chicken, top chicken!"[7][8] In 1971, Vasunia appeared in Cyrus the Great in a role (Cyrus' commander-in-chief) for which he received the first of many favourable reviews ("excellently portrayed"), in this case by the drama critic of the Times of India.[9]

The play that established Vasunia's arrival on the English stage in Bombay was Ah! Norman (adapted from Norman, Is That You? by Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick). Sam Kerawala, who later became a close friend and frequent collaborator, recommended Vasunia to the director Adi Marzban after recalling Vasunia's performance in a play from his Sydenham College days. Marzban cast him in Ah! Norman, and Vasunia's career was launched.[4] Ah! Norman enjoyed a great success (over 100 performances) and was revived several times.[10][11] That play, first performed in Mumbai in 1972, is "credited with having created a new theatre-going audience in the city".[12] Marzban was an early mentor for Vasunia, who appeared under his direction in several plays. Some years after Vasunia's death, he and Marzban were both remembered in the Hindustan Times as "two iconic Mumbai directors".[13]

Vasunia appeared in Loot, by Joe Orton, in 1971.[14] The play was revived, in 1984, with the film actor Amjad Khan acting alongside Vasunia.[15] The play returned to the Mumbai stage, a decade and more later, after the deaths of Amjad and Hosi, in a bilingual English and Hindi version.[16] Imtiaz Khan, Amjad's brother, remained the director across the different versions of the play.

Vasunia appeared regularly with Ruby Patel in a string of plays in the 1970s and 1980s. According to the director Vivek Vaswani, they acted together in “15 consecutive hits”.[17] Vasunia also collaborated with Burjor Patel, Ruby's husband, and they together co-produced a number of successful plays under the banner "Hosi Vasunia Productions". Their first play was Don't Drink the Water, which was staged in 1979 and based on a script by Woody Allen; the production was directed by Pearl Padamsee.[18][19]

Although Vasunia was famous for comedy, he was responsible for "serious" theatre including such plays as All the King's Men (in which he was directed by Alyque Padamsee), Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Mass Appeal, Saint Joan, and Agnes of God.

One of Vasunia's last roles was opposite Sabira Merchant in The Rummy Game. The play, directed by Kerawala, was adapted by Bachi Karkaria from D. L. Coburn's Gin Game and was staged in Dubai, London, Antwerp, Dusseldorf, Paris, Chicago, and New York as well as numerous cities in India.[20] The play was revived in 2010 as The Game, with Alyque Padamsee in Vasunia's role.[21]

Vasunia appeared in only a handful of films and preferred the theatre to film. According to Bhawana Somaaya, the editor of Screen, "Yash Chopra had offered him roles in his various films but he didn’t take them up."[22]

In 1989, Vasunia and Ronnie Screwvala founded the Dynasty Culture Club, which offered a range of entertainment such as theatre, cinema, music, and dance.[23] The Club put on regular events for members, who were charged an annual subscription. Vasunia, however, left the venture after some two years.[24] Screwvala also acted alongside Vasunia in several plays and spoke later of Vasunia's "good and tough and resilient side... Whatever the adversity there was always a smile on his face... He had the ability to constantly motivate people".[4]

Vasunia was closely associated for many years with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (N.C.P.A.) in Mumbai. He was a consultant to the organization, and many of his plays were staged in its theatres.[4]

Vasunia was also a consultant to the Indian Express group and the producer of its annual Screen Awards for excellence in Indian cinema.[22][25]

• Hero Hiralal (1988)
• Gawaahi (1989)
• Percy (1989)

• Zabaan Sambhalke

India Today magazine, https://www.indiatoday.in/.

The Indian Express, https://indianexpress.com/

Parsiana magazine. The publication is archived at https://www.parsiana.com/ (subscription required).

The Times of India, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/. The digital archive may be consulted at ProQuest Historical Newspapers (subscription required).

Gokhale, Shanta, “The Dramatists”, in A. K. Mehrotra (ed.), A History of Indian Literature in English. London: Hurst and Company, 2003.

Lal, Ananda (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004.

• Hosi Vasunia at IMDB