The Hindu : New Delhi News : Playing a variety of roles with elan

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Monday, Sep 24, 2007
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New Delhi

Playing a variety of roles with elan

Master of his craft: Actor Boman Irani

A comedian par excellence, Boman Irani, who shot to fame with his performance in ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’, believes that his job as an artiste is to entertain the audience, says Madhur Tankha

He believes in sending the audience into splits with his wisecracks and crispy one-liners. Bollywood actor Boman Irani says his job as an artiste is to regale the audience, irrespective of whether he is performing on the big screen or on stage.

During a visit to the Capital this past week to promote his upcoming television quiz show “Bollywood Ka Boss” on Filmy channel, Boman said it was difficult to perform the eccentric character of Dr. J. C. Asthana in the hit comedy “Munna Bhai M.B.B.S” that eventually shot him to stardom.

“When director Rajkumar Hirani told me to play the character of a doctor, who has a peculiar habit of laughing even while he is brimming with rage, I was quite reluctant. I thought if the audience doesn’t appreciate my work, then my whole career in the Hindi film industry would be over. But Hirani won me over by his jadu ki jhappi (hug).”

As he had to portray Lucky Singh in the sequel “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”, Boman decided to do extensive research work to look like an authentic Sikh. “Before playing Lucky Singh I knew that members of the Sikh community had been portrayed in a clichéd manner in Hindi films. I will feel very bad if people from my Parsee community were presented in the same manner again and again. So I met some Sikhs, had conversations with them and even went to their homes and talked to their families.”

Boman, who in his earlier avatar was in the theatre world, portrayed the Father of the Nation in the much-talked-about play “Mahatma Vs. Gandhi”, which explored Gandhiji’s troubled relationship with his eldest son Harilal. “I am always trying to re-invent myself. When I had to play the role of Mahatma Gandhi I decided to lose weight. Being a six-foot-two-inch tall man, it was not easy. I look lazy, but when I decide to do something I go the whole hog. I lost 23 kg and had to be admitted to a hospital for three blood transfusions.”

Boman says when he works with co-actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri all he wants is a good conversation. “If you can have that with people of their stature, you have it all. In fact, conversation is very important while acting. My earlier job as a photographer helped me become a good actor as I used to talk a lot with people before clicking their pictures.”

Defending the idea of making remakes of Hindi classics like “Sholay” and “Don”, Boman says: “Did you know that ‘Ben Hur’ that went on to win 11 Oscars was a remake. If a film is good, then even if it is a remake it doesn’t matter.”

Reminiscing his younger days, Boman says he once desperately wanted to watch Amitabh Bachchan starrer “Amar Akbar Anthony”. “Whichever cinema hall I went to had installed a house full board, so I ended up watching the film at The Taj Talkies in the red light area. I could go to any lengths to watch a Bollywood film. When my mother inquired where I had gone to watch the film and I told her the truth, she gave me a tight slap.”

Boman says both he and Arshad Warsi would not have been so popular in Bollywood had Sanjay Dutt not given them a chance to “blossom”. “Both of us were supporting actors during the shooting of ‘Munna Bhai M.B.B.S’ but Sanjay was generous enough to give us a free hand. These days whatever he is going through is mentally very taxing for him. I am simply amazed by his resilience. If I have to go to the police station even for a day, I cannot sleep. But I cannot make a statement on the legal aspect of Sanjay’s case.”

Boman hails from the Parsee community of Mumbai. “My roots are with my family. And I derive my strength from it. The whole Indian social fabric is rooted in families. When my family does not like a particular role of mine they air their views freely and I know that something is amiss. I feel sad if I disappoint them and promise them that I will do better next time.”

Visibly excited about playing a Parsee in Sooni Taraporevala’s upcoming film “Little Zizou”, Boman says the film is about the lives of two families -- one with a lot of love and the other with a little less.

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