January 24 2016, 21.23 PM IST || Pocket Press Release
Mumbai : Extentia’s drama troupe ‘Nautanki Bawaas’ won the Best Actor, Best Director and as well as the Best Play award in ‘Draame Bawaas’ a Parsi theatre festival which was held recently at National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai. The festival is organized every year to keep the Parsi theatre tradition going on.
From Extentia Information Technology Farah Nesargi, Umeed Kothavala, and Neville Postwalla performed along with them ‘A Defenseless Creature’ adapted from Neil Simon’s ‘The Good Doctor’ series, based on short stories by Anton Chekhov. Umeed Kothavala and Farah Nesargi won the Best Actor awards, as well as the award for Best Director, while the laugh-riot ‘The Defenseless Creature’ was awarded by the Best Play award.
Speaking on Extentia’s success, Umeed Kothavala, CEO and co-founder of Extentia Information Technology said, “We believe in the overall development of employees and this involves pursuing interests beyond one’s work. The culture at Extentia emphasizes on employees enjoying their work. While at a company level we take many initiatives ranging from Breakfast Talks to Extentia Premier League – a popular in-house cricket tournament to CSR activities, we also recognize and encourage employees’ involvement in creative pursuits and interests. Theatre is a creative medium that also fosters teamwork and communication skills. We participate for our love of theatre and winning this award is a bonus.”
Rustom Irani won the Best Original Playwright award for the play ‘Bawaji Bank Ma Booma Boom’.
The play ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’, again written and directed by Rustom Irani was highly entertaining for the audience.
The ‘Draame Bawaas’ festival in Mumbai featured five plays, including two by Pune theatre group Nautanki Bawaas. Gustadji Dalal started the Parsi Natak Mandali in Mumbai in 1853. Adi Marzban changed the face of Parsi theatre in the 1900s. The Parsis of Pune have had the Nautanki Bawas theatre group for 20 years. The Bawaas were featured in the Draame Bawaas Parsi Theatre Festival in Mumbai which was held from January 13. The Nautanki Bawaas performed two plays on stage, including ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ and ‘Defenseless Creature’ at the festival.