Nonagenarian theater actor and director Farrokh Mehta who passed away in the wee hours of June 8, 2023 was firmly entrenched on Bombay’s English stage for six decades. Married to Marathi theater and parallel cinema’s doyenne Vijaya Mehta, the couple’s daughter, Anahita Uberoi, herself an actor and director, told Parsiana her father was "a Mr Mom before the phrase was even coined…Even though he had a solid corporate career, he attended all our school open days and was the one who helped us understand homework, and even helped us prep for debates and elocution… He was a lover of jazz, literature, film, theater and most of all, humor.” She called Farrokh "our first feminist by example… He had such pride in our mother’s career and never made us feel that her work took her away from us. He taught us how to be proud of her achievements.” She added, "He was a great believer in secularism and respected all faiths.” He was active with the publication of the monthly Freedom First edited by statesman and politician Minoo Masani.
Clockwise from above: Farrokh Mehta; in Hamlet; in A Touch of Brightness with Pearl Padamsee
Farrokh acted in more than 30 English plays including 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), established in 1944 by stalwarts of the stage like Pearl and Alyque Padamsee, and Gerson da Cunha, among others. Farrokh was involved with TGB since his college days. Among his contemporaries were artistes Pheroza Cooper, Sylvie da Cunha and his brother Gerson. The veteran acted in at least 12 plays in Gujarati, from comedies to musicals. "I never said this is my forte or that is my forte… it all depended on what the director was offering. If you liked it, you took it,” he had reminisced. Simultaneously, Farrokh continued his innings in the corporate world in companies like Cadbury, Tata Sons and Pfizer.
He had told Parsiana in January 20, 2020, when speaking about the Lifetime Achievement Award he had received from the youth theater group Thespo the previous month (see "Thespo award for Mehta,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, February 7-20, 2020): "When it comes does not matter… What is important is that all the work you did is appreciated.” Thespo founder Quasar Padamsee told The Indian Express (IE) June 9, 2023, that the first production of Death of a Salesman was staged sometime in the 1960s and the last in 2016. "It had many actors including my mother Dolly Thakore and Sabira Merchant. But while most cast members changed, the only two constant actors remained Alyque (Padamsee, his father) and Farrokh… He was the foundation upon which other actors could become mavericks. He would let his co-actors shine.” Merchant told the newspaper that "while actors always want to do things on their own, he (Farrokh) 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.”
"He was always the favorite person in every room,” Quasar told IE. "And it was only because he could make you, irrespective of whether you were a veteran or a newbie, feel good, even if you were having a really bad day.”
The thespian is survived by his wife Vijaya, daughter Anahita Uberoi, and sons Ravi and Deven Khote, from Vijaya’s previous marriage.