'She was the real ruby of theatre'

Generations of theatrewallahs across English and Gujarati stage pay rich tribute to veteran Ruby Patel who passed away on Monday night

Mumbai's theatre fraternity had not even recovered from the news of veteran Bomi Kapadia's passing last week that they've had to bear the shock of another loss – that of Ruby Patel, who strode the stage like a colossus despite her petite frame. She was 86, and is survived by her husband Burjor and three children.

"I have tried to never miss a single play in which Ruby acted. In many ways, I wanted to be like her, though the type of theatre I did was different," recalls thespian Dolly Thakore, hailing Patel's craft. "It was honed at the Adi Murzban school of acting. His actors were so good; he let them be and take over on stage. Ruby was in that groove. So many wonderfully confident actors emerged from that stable including Hosi Vasunia, Bomi Kapadia and Scheherazade and Rohinton Mody. They never play-acted; they simply went into character."

Her co-actor for many plays was Bomi Dotiwala since they began working in 1965. "She was a lovely lady. Ruby would get very nervous when something would go wrong." He also remembers her singing talent, and the hit qawali they performed together for the play Laughter in the House. Theatre director Sam Kerawala remembers her initiation into theatre: "When Ruby was a student at The Alexandra Girls' English Institution, she was taking part in a play as part of a drama competition. Her teacher, Mrs Khandalavala, was impressed and Adi Marzban was informed that she might be of interest to him. The next day, when I accompanied him to school, we saw her acting and could see that she was talented." Kerawala recalls how he had to convince Patel's father about their work and if she, then in her late teens, could be a part of it. "He agreed on the condition that I would have to take her to the theatre and drop her back home on Princess Street. And so, I took her to every rehearsal and brought her back home. When Adi Marzban made her a secretary in his office, she learnt a lot."

Adman and Sunday mid-day columnist, Rahul daCunha had directed Ruby Patel in his first three plays. "In the early 80s, Shernaz [Ruby's daughter] and I were doing plays together. We found a script called Nuts, a courtroom drama. Burjor was keen to produce it, and I was keen to make my debut. Along came Shernaz, Bomi (Kapadia), and Ruby. I was 23 and everyone except Shernaz was older. It was baptism by fire. She was a director's actor and at the same time would bring her skill to the party," says daCunha, who also directed her in The Subject Was Roses and Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. About hers and Bomi's on-stage chemistry, he says: "They were incredible together. It takes professionalism and experience to keep the consistency going, show after show." And her 61-year-old partnership with husband Burjor was equally magical.

"There was a kind of simple pint pointedness about how they could tell if a play was appealing to an audience or not," says daCunha.

"I've never heard her say anything negative about anybody, nor did I hear anything derogatory being said about her. Such was her class. Young Shernaz has inherited a lot of her mother's talent and traits," says Thakore. Dotiwala's homage perhaps summarises it best: "She was a conscientious, dedicated and cooperative soul. She was a real ruby."

With inputs from Dalreen Ramos

Ruby's advice was invaluable

"Ruby was a quiet observer who gently made suggestions. She thought I should wrap up research on Laughter in the House, my book on Parsi theatre, at just the right time. I was desperately adding more and more interviews with old stars, fretting how I'd close the book representing them all well enough, while doing the job of publisher too (it was the first title from my imprint 49/50 Books). Even as she showed me the wisdom of cutting off from work like this in a balanced way, the great Dadi Sarkari, one of her popular co-stars, breathed his last after lunch at the Elphinstone Club. That did it. I quickly closed the book. If not, then after its 2011 release we may have lost the joy of collaborating with our sparkling veteran actors over the next six years on two house-full seasons of the Laughter in the House stage productions. I'm really grateful to Ruby for her advice."

– Meher Marfatia, author, Sunday mid-day columnist

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