Boman Irani never went to a film school. Instead, he honed his skills in theatre and found success as a film actor only at 44. Rather late by conventional standards but Boman is comfortable with his age and late-bloomer status. He is happy to play a doting elder brother and in rare cases, even father figure to his co-stars. He is adored as much as an actor as the person that he is, both by the fraternity and the audience. Yet, Boman never enjoys seeing himself on screen.
“I am very critical of my work. I always think I could have done it better,” says Boman, who is back to playing a Parsi on screen, this time with Farah Khan in Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi’ A Parsi in real life, he is increasingly getting stereotyped as one. “I don’t think you have too many options as an actor here. As much as I would like to play different roles, I keep receiving offers to play a Parsi probably because I am convincing. Filmmakers cannot be blamed for this. It’s just that when you think of Parsi, you think of Boman Irani,” he laughs.
Of late, Boman has slipped into lead roles, as evidenced in Well Done Abba’ But he has no illusions about the fact that he is not a hero in the conventional sense of the word. “I call it a title role. It does not necessarily mean a hero role. I am fundamentally an actor and I am expected to play everything and everyone. I am at ease with character roles as well,” he says, adding that any role, whether small or big, is an important one. “The challenge is to do as best as you can in whatever role you have been assigned. If you leave your impression in a few number of scenes that means you are a good actor.”
Affable by nature, Boman stays away from controversies and leads what he calls a “normal life that old people live”. When asked why so many of his co-stars not only hold him up as a good actor but also a fine gentleman, he quickly responds: “I am with industry friends like how I am with everyone else. I have no façade. There are people I am genuinely fond of and they return that fondness in the same manner. I come from the old school idea that if you give respect, you receive respect.”
Now 52, the actor who moonlights as a photographer, believes his most exciting years of his acting career are yet to come. He says he wants to surprise you every time he is on screen. Known for his sheer range that sees him playing a crazy doctor in one film to a cynical grandfather in another, Boman says, “I like to make the character my own. I give it a personal touch and that happens because I work on it. I always believe that an actor must be so good in a film that the audience should be compelled to say, ‘Oh god, no other actor could have played it better.”