She did an MBA in US, acted with Amitabh Bachchan, and left an Anil Kapoor film for marriage, now runs a Rs 120 crore chicken business empire
Zorabian’s exit from films did not materialize as offers dried up. This was because he chose a different life, which took him from his MBA in New York to an acting course he took almost by chance, and eventually back to the family business he had dreamed of since he was eight years old. His story is a reminder that Bollywood fame and personal ambition don’t always point in the same direction.
The Girl Who Wants to Be an Entrepreneur, Not an Actress
Long before the cameras caught up with him, Zorabian wanted to run a company. Growing up in an Iranian family based in Mumbai, he watched his father closely and decided early on what he wanted to be. “I was 8 years old and couldn’t pronounce entrepreneur correctly, but I knew that was what I wanted to be,” he said in an interview with Suketh Shah.
Acting came into his life almost by accident. While he was studying for an MBA in New York, a friend introduced him to the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute. He enrolled out of curiosity and studied there for a year after finishing business school, still planning to return home and join the family business.
One Om Puri Movie Changed Everything
A modeling coordinator in India noticed her at a family gathering and offered her the Fair & Lovely commercial. This advertisement opened the doors and soon she starred opposite Om Puri in Nagesh Kukunoor’s ‘Bollywood Calling’. He took a month off work for the shoot and then went straight back to his desk. “I was all hands-on at Zorabian,” he recalled.
The film’s release was delayed, so Zorabian assumed that moment had passed. It didn’t happen. Everything changed overnight when Pritish Nandy Communications acquired the film and put it at the center of promotions. “My life changed after that,” he said. Indian English cinema was still a small field with very few actors, and Zorabian suddenly found himself in demand.
Movies Were Tracked But Stardom Never Was
Roles in ‘Morning Raga’, ‘Joggers Park’ and ‘Mumbai Matinee’ made him a familiar face in this niche circle. She traveled to China for three months to portray Indira Gandhi on stage in ‘Bandung Sonata’ and later starred opposite Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Ek Ajnabee’. Yet he never confused this recognition with mainstream Bollywood stardom. “I wasn’t a Bollywood star. I wouldn’t get the attention that a Karisma Kapoor would get,” he said.
An Ultimatum from His Father
For years, Zorabian juggled filming and working in the family business until his father asked him to choose one. With her blessing, he chose acting and went on to build a diverse career in film, television and theatre.
Zorabian married businessman Boman Irani at the age of 33. Before the wedding, her husband said he would prefer her not to travel too much after marriage, which caused a minor storm at home. “My husband said, ‘I don’t want you to travel after marriage.’ My mother said, ‘What nonsense! How can she say that?’ he said. and my aunt said, ‘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?”
Zorabian saw it differently. “He didn’t say, ‘You can’t travel.’ He said, ‘I’ll wait for you, but I’d rather you not travel.’ I never did another movie after that.”
Choosing Family Over Movie Offers
The decision wasn’t just about her husband’s wishes. Motherhood was also on her mind. “The biological clock is ticking,” he said, explaining the change in priorities. She later admitted that getting pregnant was what made it possible to quit movies. “I knew the only way to fix this situation was to get pregnant, so I chose to start a family.”
Even after that, big offers kept coming. Subhash Ghai asked her to act opposite Anil Kapoor in ‘Black and White’ and Nikhil Advani offered her a role opposite Sohail Khan in ‘Salaam-e-Ishq’. He turned them both down. Her mother, who did not want to see her daughter’s independence broken, gave a warning to her new son-in-law: “My mother told my husband, ‘He is a butterfly. Do not cut off his wings because he will dry up and die.'”
It turns out that marriage doesn’t cage him. She was active in theater and television, and later, after having two children, looked back with pride at a moment when she was on stage. “I had given birth to two children and I weighed 100 pounds, I was wearing shorts and I was standing and clapping in front of 1,100 people,” she said.
From a Struggling Poultry Company to a Rs 120 Crore Business
While his film career faded into the background, Zorabian was quietly rebuilding something else. When he first became seriously involved in the family business he was in financial trouble. Over the years, he has transformed it from a traditional wholesale poultry business into a modern food company that brings retail, ready-to-cook products and express trade under one roof. The business currently employs around 700 people and earns close to R120 million a year.
For someone who spent years in the poultry trade, Zorabian is oddly picky about his own plate. By his own admission, he eats chicken at home every day, but avoids ordering it when he eats out.
(Source: TOI)
