Boman Irani

Boman Irani
Born	(1959-12-02) 2 December 1959[1] Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Film actor voice actor
Years active	2000–present
Religion	Zoroastrianism
Spouse(s)	Zenobia Irani
Children	Danesh and Kayoze Irani (son)

Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian film and theatre actor, voice artist and photographer. He is widely known for his comedic and villain roles in Bollywood films such as Don, Munna Bhai MBBS, 3 Idiots, Happy New Year, PK and Dilwale.

Early life

Irani was born on 2 December 1959, in Mumbai. He finished his schooling in St. Mary's School, Mumbai. He is a graduate of Mithibai College in Mumbai. After his polytechnic diploma course, he joined the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and worked there as a waiter and room service staff.^[2] Thereafter, he joined his mother to run their ancestral bakery shop between Novelty and Apsara Cinema in South Mumbai.

Irani turned to photography in 1987 and continued until he became an actor.

Career

Irani began his acting career in theatre and moved to films in 2000. Irani gained attention for his role in the 2003 comedy Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.. 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.

Theatre career

Acting had been a passion to Irani during school and college days. He trained under acting coach Hansraj Siddhia from 1981 to 1983 and adopted professional acting methods. Irani preferred British theatre, and he soon developed different accents.

Irani's mentor was Alyque Padamsee — the veteran theatre actor best known for his role as Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Gandhi. He was introduced to Padamsee by Shiamak Davar.^[2][3] Irani's earliest theatrical appearance was in Roshni where 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 till date has been I am not Bajirao which ran for 10 years.^[2]

Film career

Irani started out in a number of advertisements like Fanta, Ceat and Krackjack biscuits (as Mr. Jack of the Krack and Jack duo).^[4]

His small but significant role in Darna Mana Hai earned him acclaim. The film didn't fare too well, but his was one of the most remembered segments of the film along with Saif Ali Khan. With Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Irani became popular. His role as J. Asthana earned him a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Comedian. His comic as well as minor antagonist type role in 3 Idiots is also still remembered. Irani has appeared in many comedic (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 (Veer-Zaara, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, Lakshya, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Sorry Bhai!, Page 3, My Wife's Murder), and negative roles (Don: The Chase Begins Again , Don 2: The King Is Back, Eklavya). He acted in his first Telugu film Attharintiki Daaredhi as the grandfather of Pawan Kalyan.

Irani hosted the IIFA Awards with actor Ritesh Deshmukh in 2008 in Bangkok, 2009 Macau, 2010 Colombo and 2011 in Toronto.^[5] He has been on Kaun Banega Crorepati with Sanjay Dutt. He also hosted the quiz show Bollywood Ka Boss. Irani featured in OneTouch Glucose Meters TV commercials in 2015 with Simone Singh.^[6]

Personal life

Boman Irani is an Irani and follows the religion of Zoroastrianism. He speaks English, Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali and Marathi fluently. Irani is a member of the Parsee Television Actors Community and is its secretary. He is married to Zenobia, with whom he has two sons, Danesh and Kayoze Irani.

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boman Irani.

• Boman Irani at the Internet Movie Database