Boman Irani still amazed with success

By: Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
People loved him in Munnabhai M.B.B.S and loved him more in Lage Raho Munnabhai. He is now playing Khurana in Khosla Ka Ghosla and the audience seems to be ready to fall in love with him again.

How are you feeling about Munnabhai doing so well?
It was frankly the shift of character that was so familiar with audiences that made them forget about it for this particular movie. I think the moment you believe in a film the audiences will start believing in you. People saw Lucky Singh and it's nice to see kids coming to me and telling me 'Get well soon Lucky'. I think it was a far more difficult role. But the fun is that people love this film. They just can't have enough of it. They began to love Lucky Singh very much.

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You are all over Mumbai with Khosla Ka Ghosla. Tell us about it.
Luckily Khurana is not like Lucky even though they were dealing with property. Lucky is a builder while Khurana doesn't necessarily deal with land. He just tricks people. He might be selling the same piece of land to ten people. He doesn't do it himself but gets someone to do it. So basically he is scamming. He is into the business of cheating not in the business of property actually. That's Khurana of Khosla Ka Ghosla.

Lucky on the other hand is a nice family guy. He needs a land so that his daughter can get settled in life. He is a reputed builder in Bombay. While Khurana is mean he is sly. He is unforgiving. He takes innocent people and makes their life miserable. Lucky didn't want to make anyone's life miserable. Khurana is only evil.

How was it working with Anupam Kher?
To be very honest with you the first day I was really very nervous because I was dealing with someone with such a vast experience. I don't know what kind of guy he is. I did not even bother to find out. I just thought let us see how it comes and I stepped on to the sets. It takes a wonderful actor to realize that his job as an actor is not just to act and go but also to make sure that people who are acting with him are comfortable. And it did not take more than five minutes for Anupam Kher to tell me that you look like Mr. Khurana. They were all nervous about how a Bombay Parsi would manage to look like a Khurana from Delhi. But Anupam Kher reassured me that I am looking like Khurana and for an actor of his stature saying this means a lot. We are friends since that day.

Tell us about the writer and creative producer behind this project - Jaideep Sahni
I feel Jaideep Sahani and all these guys from Delhi have lived the life of middle class. They are so involved in that culture that you almost feel that it is their story. The story could have been of their father or mother. The story gets that rich and beautiful feel. Jaideep is so good that when you read the script you can see the film. Jaideep has to be credited for that because to make the script feel so good is absolutely fabulous. You don't want Jaideep's scenes to end. The way he gets to the next scene is fantastic. His scenes are written to an edited perfection. Hats off to him.

All your films seem to have a comic streak to your character. Don't you think you are oft repeating yourself?
I really do not know how to answer that question. My first film Darna Mana Hai had me playing the mad man, mass murderer. He is very different from the doctor I played in Munnabhai. They are two very different people. My character in Veer-Zaara or my character in Lakshya or my character in My Wife's Murder were all different from each other as a matter of fact even the Parsi character in Being Cyrus. I do not see any resemblance in my characters. The characters you say are comical are my most popular characters. People know me well because of those characters. I can never forget My Wife's Murder. Even in my forthcoming film, Eklavya, I play a character who is far from being a light hearted character. He is not light hearted from the insides of his inside. He is grim and dark. I am trying very hard not to repeat myself. My characters in Lage Raho Munnabhai and Khosla Ka Ghosla may be in the same profession but the way they have been sketched out is different.

What took Khosla Ka Ghosla so long to release?
Khosla Ka Ghosla was to be released by somebody else but something went wrong there. It had got into some problems. But the matter of fact is it is a good film. UTV is producing it. They recognized its worth. They would not have picked it up if they thought it was not worthwhile to do so. But I have to admit that it did take long. We are awaiting the film's release. It is a very nice film. It is a people's film. I have never done so many interviews just to promote one film but I am doing so for this because I want people to see this film. This film is about you and me. It is not a larger than life fantastic character.

Tell us about Don.
Don is a film we had seen as youngsters on a screen where everything is larger than life. We used to see the movie on screen with eyes wide open and we used to enjoy the magic of cinema. Now what happens is that we are inside of that screen ourselves. That includes someone like Shahrukh Khan who feels this is his tribute to Amitabh Bachchan. Farhan Akhtar says that this is his favorite film. It is basically re living one's youth. This is something that we enjoyed then we are enjoying that now again. Over the years I have enjoyed the film so much, now I am glad I can be a part of it.

Will Don match the magic of old Don?
Nobody ever knows. It's very well shot, very well made. We are not here to make predictions. The moment we say that this Don will do better than the first, we have lost the purpose of making the film. We are not trying to top it. It is just a tribute to what we have enjoyed seeing when we were younger.

Eklavya looks big too.
Eklavya is big. With Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role, any film will be big. Eklavya has a wonderful wonderful star cast with Amitabh Bachchan up there. Sharmila Tagore, Saif Ali Khan, Jackie Shroff, Sanjay Dutt, Vidya Balan, Jimmy Shergill, Parikshit Sahani and myself. It has got the vision of Vidhu Vinod Chopra who in my mind is one of the finest director I have worked with. It has a story which is big and has a magnificent visual treat. A story with lots of backgrounds, secrets, and so much more going to it. I feel if movies are to be made, they are to be made like this. I am very proud to have done this film and I will cherish this film for a very long time.

Tell us about Honeymoon Travels.
Honeymoon Travels is a film produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. This movie is directed by a lady who was also the assistant director of Farhan. Her name is Reema Kagti. It is about these Honeymooners who go on this bus through a package tour. I played a married man who is married for the second time to Shabana Azmi. We are different couples in the film. It has a wonderful star cast. It is not just about honeymoon, but also about rediscovering yourself.

Will you do theater again?
Of course I will do theater again. Theater is like my home. I may travel the world across seven seas but there is no place like home. I will do theater some time soon.

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