Boman Irani
Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian theatre and Bollywood film actor, voice artist, and photographer of Irani descent. After making his film debut with the 2003 anthology horror film Darna Mana Hai, Irani had his first commercial success with the 2003 comedy Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
Boman Irani | |
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Born | |
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation | Film actor Voice artist Production House Irani Movietone[1] |
Years active | 2001–present |
Notable work | Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munnabhai, 3 Idiots |
Spouse(s) | Zenobia Irani |
Children | 3, including Kayoze Irani |
He subsequently starred in numerous highly successful productions including Main Hoon Na (2004), Veer-Zaara (2004), No Entry (2005), Don (2006), Heyy Babyy (2007), Kismat Konnection (2008), Dostana (2008), Housefull (2010), Cocktail (2012), Jolly LLB (2013), Bhoothnath Returns (2014), Housefull 3 (2016), and Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran (2018). Irani's highest-grossing releases came with several films that rank among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time, including Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), 3 Idiots (2009), Don 2 (2011), Housefull 2 (2012), Happy New Year (2014), PK (2014), Dilwale (2015), Sanju (2018), and Total Dhamaal (2019). His performance in 3 Idiots won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Irani launched his production house Irani Movietone on 24 January 2019.[1]
Early life
Irani was born on 2 December 1959, in Bombay (now Mumbai) to an Irani Zoroastrian family. His father died 6 months before Irani was born. Irani was dyslexic, as well as having ADHD and a lisp, which he eventually overcame.[2][3]
His mother often encouraged him to repeatedly watch movies at the Alexander Cinema—where he would go daily after school—to observe their cinematography and art.[2] He finished his secondary schooling at St. Mary's School, after which he undertook a 2-year waiter course at Mithibai College in Mumbai.
Following his polytechnic diploma course, he joined the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower where he worked as a waiter and in room service for two years.[4] With a promotion, he became a waiter at the hotel's rooftop French restaurant, Rendezvous[2]
Until he was 32 years old, Irani also managed the bakery and namkeen shop that belonged to his mother—who took over from Irani's father after his passing—where he used to make and sell potato chips and tea.[5] Located on Mumbai's Grant Road between Novelty Cinema and Apsara Cinema, this shop was also where Irani first met his mother-in-law.[2]
Career
Photography career
While working at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, using the tips that he received, Irani bought a camera and took sports pictures (school cricket and football matches), selling them for 20 to 30 rupees, which he continued till well after marriage.[2] His epiphany came when he saved money for seven years to take his family for their first ever vacation to Ooty, but they ended up in a desolate run-down hotel called Shawham Palace. Irani decided to take control of his life, and instead of living the petty existence of a photographer selling small photos, he would started to dream and live big and provide more for his family. Irani calls it his "zero number bulb moment".[6]
Irani continued to be a photographer, but now at the age of 32, went 6 months prior to the world boxing championships at Mumbai to meet Adajania, then-president of the Olympic Boxing Association of India, and requested to become the official photographer of the World Cup. When Adajania told him there was no need for him, Irani offered to work at his office for 6 months for free in return for a ring-side badge to cover the event. He continued to try to convince Adajania, and covered a state boxing match in a different manner than other photographers. Adajania was impressed by his photos and his passion and appointed Irani as the official photographer.[2]
Meanwhile, he became the photographer for the Norwegian boxing team and photographed specific photos that they needed of Ole Klemetsen. When asked about his charges, Irani asked for the international rate. Irani took the required photos with his K-1000.[2]
Theatrical career
With acting having been a passion for Irani during his school and college days, he trained under acting coach Hansraj Siddhia from 1981 to 1983.
Irani's mentor was Alyque Padamsee—the veteran theatre actor best known for his role as Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Gandhi—whom he was introduced to by Shiamak Davar.[4][7] Irani's earliest theatrical appearance was in Roshni, in which he played a cameo at the Regional Theatre in Versova. He followed this up with serials like Family Ties and Mahatma vs Gandhi, playing Gandhi after the role was turned down by Darshan Jariwala. His most illustrious play to date would be I Am Not Bajirao which ran for 10 years.[4]
Film career
Irani moved to on-screen acting in 2000. He started out in a number of advertisements such as Fanta, Ceat and Krackjack biscuits (as Mr. Jack of the Krack and Jack duo).[8]
His small but significant role in Darna Mana Hai earned him acclaim. The film was declared a hit, and he was one of the most remembered segments of the film along with Saif Ali Khan. Irani gained attention for his role in the 2003 comedy Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.. His role as J. Asthana earned him a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Comedian. He later appeared in Lage Raho Munna Bhai for which he received several IIFA award nominations and in 3 Idiots opposite Aamir khan which earned him a Filmfare Award and a Star Screen Award for Best Actor in a Villainous Role. Irani has appeared in many comedic roles, such as Main Hoon Na, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Dostana, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Waqt: The Race Against Time, No Entry, Housefull, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, Housefull 2, and Cocktail; supporting roles, such as Veer-Zaara, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, Lakshya, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Sorry Bhai!, Page 3, and My Wife's Murder; and negative roles, such as Don: The Chase Begins Again, Don 2: The King Is Back, and Eklavya. He acted in his first Telugu film Attharintiki Daaredhi as the grandfather of Pawan Kalyan.
Irani hosted the IIFA Awards, including in 2008 with actor Ritesh Deshmukh in Bangkok; 2009 in Macau; 2010 in Colombo; and 2011 in Toronto.[9] He also hosted the quiz show Bollywood Ka Boss. He has been on Kaun Banega Crorepati with Sanjay Dutt, and has featured in OneTouch Glucose Meters TV commercials in 2015 with Simone Singh.[10]
Production
He launched his production house Irani Movietone on 24 January 2019, the logo of which was unveiled by Amitabh Bachchan.[1]
Filmography
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Denotes films / dramas that are not yet released |
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | Everybody Says I'm Fine! | Mr. Mittal | |
2002 | Let's Talk | Nikhil | |
2003 | Darna Mana Hai | Hotel owner | |
Boom | Diamond Dealer | Cameo appearance | |
Munnabhai M.B.B.S. | Dr. J. C. Asthana | Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role | |
2004 | Main Hoon Na | Principal | Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role |
Lakshya | Mr. Sanjeev Shergill | ||
Veer-Zaara | Jahangir Hayaat Khan | ||
2005 | Page 3 | Deepak Suri | |
Waqt: The Race Against Time | Natu | ||
My Wife's Murder | Inspector Tejpal Randhawa | ||
No Entry | Minister P.K. Gupta | ||
Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara | Public Prosecutor | ||
Home Delivery: Aapko... Ghar Tak | Michael Burnett / Santa Claus | ||
Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow | Yashwant Dayal | ||
Bluffmaster | Dr. Bhalerao | ||
Mr Prime Minister | |||
Being Cyrus | Farokh Sethna | ||
2006 | Shaadi Se Pehle | Dr Rustam | |
Pyare Mohan | Tony Alias Dholakia | ||
Yun Hota To Kya Hota | DCP | Special appearance | |
Lage Raho Munna Bhai | Lucky Singh | Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role | |
Khosla Ka Ghosla | Kishen Khurana | ||
Don - The Chase Begins Again | DCP DeSilva / Vardhaan | ||
2007 | Eklavya: The Royal Guard | Rana Jayawardhan | |
Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. | Oscar Fernandes | ||
Heyy Babyy | Bharat Sahni | ||
Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal | Tony Singh | ||
2008 | Woodstock Villa | ||
Love Story 2050 | Professor Yatin Khanna / Uncle Ya | ||
Kismat Konnection | Rajiv Batra | Guest appearance | |
Rishton Ki Machine | |||
Dostana | M (Murali) | ||
Yuvvraaj | Dr P.K. Banton | ||
Sorry Bhai! | Navin | ||
Maharathi | AD Merchant | ||
2009 | Luck by Chance | Dinaz Aziz | Cameo appearance |
Little Zizou | Boman Pressvala | ||
99 | Rahul | ||
Kambakkht Ishq | Doctor | Cameo appearance | |
Perfect Mismatch | Mr. Patel | ||
Fruit and Nut | Maharaja Harry Holkar | ||
Durbar | |||
Front Page | |||
3 Idiots | Viru Sahastrabuddhe (Virus, Dean) | Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor | |
Mungilal Rocks | |||
2010 | Well Done Abba | Arman Ali / Rahman Ali | |
Teen Patti | Special appearance | ||
Hum Tum Aur Ghost | Kapoor | ||
Mirch | Asu Hotmal | ||
Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai | Special appearance | ||
Housefull | Batuk Patel | ||
2011 | F.A.L.T.U | Principal Sharma | Special appearance |
Game | O. P. Ramsay | ||
Love Breakups Zindagi | Sheila's Dad | Cameo appearance | |
Don 2: The King is Back | Vardhaan | ||
2012 | Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu | Rahul's father | |
Housefull 2 | Batuk Patel | ||
Tezz | Sanjay Raina | ||
Ferrari Ki Sawaari | Deboo | ||
Cocktail | Randhir kapoor(Randy) | ||
Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi | Farhad | ||
Student of the Year | Harkishan Sanan | Guest Appearance | |
2013 | Jolly LLB | Advocate Rajpal | |
Attarintiki Daredi | Raghu Nandan | Telugu film | |
2014 | Youngistaan | Prime Minister Dashrath Kaul | Guest appearance |
Bhoothnath Returns | Bhausaheb | ||
Happy New Year | Tehmton Irani (Tammy) | ||
PK | Cherry Bajwa | ||
2015 | Bengal Tiger | CM Ashok Gajapathi | Telugu film |
Dilwale | King | ||
2016 | Santa Banta Pvt Ltd | Santheshwar Singh Solaid/ Santa | |
Housefull 3 | Batuk Patel | ||
The Legend of Michael Mishra | Fp | ||
Ventilator | Doctor | Marathi film | |
2017 | FU: Friendship Unlimited | Makarand's (Mak's) father | |
2018 | Agnyaathavaasi | Govind Bhargav alias Vinda | Telugu film |
Naa Peru Surya, Naa Illu India | Col. Sanjay Shrivastav | ||
Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran | Himanshu Shukla | ||
Sanju | Ruby's father and himself | ||
Welcome to New York | Mr. Garry | ||
Khajoor Pe Atke | Abhishek | ||
2019 | Total Dhamaal | Commissioner Shamsher "Don" Singh | |
PM Narendra Modi | Industrialist Ratan Tata | ||
Jhalki | Kailash Satyarthi | ||
Kaappaan | Rajan Mahadev | Tamil film | |
Made in China | Dr. Vardhi | ||
Drive | Irrfan | ||
2020 | Maska | Himself[17] | Guest appearance |
2021 | ![]() |
Kannada film; Filming | |
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Farokh Engineer | Completed[18] | |
2022 | ![]() |
TBA | Filming[19] |
Awards
Year | Award Show | Award | Film | Won |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | Screen Weekly | Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role | Munnabhai M.B.B.S. | Yes |
2007 | Filmfare Award | Filmfare Best Villain Award | Lage Raho Munnabhai | Nominated |
2010 | Star Screen Award | Star Screen Award for Best Villain | 3 Idiots | Yes |
Filmfare Award | Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award | Yes | ||
IIFA Award | IIFA Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role | Yes | ||
2013 | Kalakar Awards | Award for Best Actor | Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi | Yes |
References
- Boman Irani [@bomanirani] (24 January 2019). "And the moment that we've been waiting for!!! With the love from one and all, introducing "Irani Movietone". @iranimovietone #IraniMovietone t.co/gXdwKmGTmq" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- "Josh talks - Boman Irani". www.youtube.com. Josh talks. Archived from the original on 14 December 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- Times of India. 2020 December 19. "Kaun Banega Crorepati 12: Amitabh Bachchan shares an incident from his school days when he lied of 'killing a snake' and got a beating from his school principal." Entertainment Times.
- "Boman Irani gets candid". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- "INSPIRATIONAL LIFE AND QUOTES OF BOMAN IRANI: TRANSFORMATION FROM A DYSLEXIC, AND LISPIC CHILD TO AN ACCLAIMED BOLLYWOOD ACTOR!". Indian Speaker Bureau.
- "From waiter to a rising star: Boman Irani". The GenX Times. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- "The making of an actor". Bomanirani.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- "Actor – Ad Films – India". Boman Irani. Archived from the original on 15 April 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- "Riteish Deshmukh, Boman Irani are IIFA hosts again". Archived from the original on 6 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- LOWE LINTAS HIGHLIGHTS THE 'SWEET' SIDE IN THE LIFE OF A DIABETIC FOR ONETOUCH Archived 16 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- "FNB News - Boman Irani new brand ambassador of Puri Oil Mills' P Mark mustard oil | FNB News". www.fnbnews.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- Ghosal, Sutanuka (2014). "Boman Irani signs up as brand ambassador of 'P' mark mustard oil". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- "Exotica signs Boman Irani as its brand ambassador -". www.realtynmore.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- Announcement (24 January 2011). "Kent RO Systems signs Boman Irani as the brand ambassador". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 26 May 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- indiainfoline.com. "Boman Irani brand ambassador of NGO 'AHEAD'". Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- "Saffola appoints Boman Irani as brand ambassador; launches new TVC". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- "'Maska' review: An interesting premise somehow manages to yield disastrous results". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- "Boman Irani to enact the part of Farokh Engineer in #83TheFilm... Stars Ranveer Singh as #KapilDev... Directed by Kabir Khan... 10 April 2020 release. #Relive83". Taran Adarsh on Twitter. Archived from the original on 4 October 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- "Boman Irani joins the cast of Ajay Devgn's Mayday". Bollywood Hungama. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.