Waitering, photography, acting — he has done it all. Boman Irani owned the stage at The Oberoi Grand on October 25 in a hall full of members of the Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YFLO), as he shared the turning points of his life. We took notes...

Starting out

I am going to tell you’ll a story. In places, it becomes everybody’s story — you will have to identify. I was born on December 2, 1959 in a Parsi family and my father passed away in May the same year. So, I was born after his death. I was born in a family where I was surrounded by mummy, four masis, their friends, five chachis and their friends. I had no idea what a male voice sounded like. It was my neighbour who came to our house shouting for some reason, and I was so scared. I thought who is this new species? Male. I had a deja vu today with this room filled with an ocean of women and only two men.

I was the shyest boy in the world. Everyone made fun of me by calling me bechara Boman. On top of that, I had a speech defect... I used to squeak. I had a lisp very much like my character Virus (from 3 Idiots). Can you imagine being a child who could not speak?

Any good story, any good screenplay, any leading character, be it male or female, has a ‘want’, a desire. And if you desire, whatever you wish for is yours. But if your desire is fulfilled easily, it is not a great story. If your desire does not have any obstacles, it is a story not worth telling. There has to be a want.

My mother sent me to St. Mary’s School, one of the best schools in Mumbai. The principal showed me a few photos of animals. The first one was a horse but due to my speech defect, I couldn’t really say it loud. So I stayed quiet. Then he showed me the photo of a mouse. My mom asked me to try but I couldn’t. Then while we were on our way back, my mom cried and said, “Why didn’t you say anything?” Ten days later, we got a call from the principal and he told my mother to not go by the first interview and asked her to send me to that school anyway.

But my problems increased, as I was dyslexic. I still am, believe it or not. Dyslexia mein you read ulta. My academics drowned but my talent was in some other sphere. But this is a room full of ladies, and a room full of mummies. I have got to say something. If your child does not get 90s or 80s or 70s, don’t feel bad. What’s wrong with a 70 per cent? Kids who get 60 are not duffers. Please do not be ashamed of your child if he/she gets a 60-70 per cent. Rejoice in the talent that he/she has. Imagine if Sachin Tendulkar got 90 or 95 per cent, and his parents asked him to become a doctor instead of a cricketer! Be proud of your child because they will make you proud someday.

I passed with a third-class and I am proud. My mother was a widow and had a debt of Rs 67,000 when my father died. We had a small shop, a battered dukaan. Despite that, she encouraged me to watch movies because she always understood this kid was dyslexic.

Odd jobs

I thought to myself that I was affable, funny and people liked me. So I decided I would be a waiter. When I told my grandmother this, she just told me, “Be the best damn waiter or don’t even try.” This is the understanding and encouragement that our children need from us.

I started working at the Taj Mahal Palace. My notion is that you reach for the stars always, and even if you miss, you will at least land on the treetops.

There was a Parsi manager who was kharoos. He asked me which department I wanted to work for and I named the best restaurant in the hotel, The Rendezvous. He said, “Idiot, start from the basement.” That has been my biggest lesson till date. You cannot start at the top unless you have worked at the bottom, lower than the ground floor — the basement.

For the first few years, I worked the chores, I worked in the shamiana, the basement and then finally, I did reach my destination, The Rendezvous, where I used to talk with a fake French accent and everyone used to be so impressed. Tabse acting kar raha hoon.

Then my mother met with an accident and I started sitting at our shop and for 14 years of my life, I sat there and I was very proud to be a dukaanwala because we used to make the best damn wafers in Mumbai. People used to smell them from afar, which used to lead them to our shop, and that’s where I met the most beautiful lady of my life, my mother-in-law. I have realised that whenever you are going to go to see your to-be wife, you don’t look at the girl, you look at the mother because that’s what the girl will become in the next 20 years. In the first meeting only, we decided to get married to each other. I got married at the age of 25 and before I turned 26, I became a dad. My first son Danesh came along and three years later, we had Kayoze.

From a worker, I became the manager of my little shop, and people used to call me Boman seth. But you keep moving forward. Don’t settle in your comfort zone. Move on. Have a want. Have a desire.

‘Want’ for more

I realised that this cannot be my life. I have to take my family out for holidays and celebrate. We hadn’t been to many places in Mumbai, not even Lokhandwala. So I bought myself the latest camera to capture school sports events. I love sports. I started collecting money by shooting cycle races, athletic matches.

We went on a holiday on a train and then we took a bus. And we got a very old hotel with creaky doors. There was just one light in the room and it was still dark. And I told myself, “Is this what I have been working for? Is this what I am going to provide for my family?” This is not the treetops, this is a dungeon. That moment for me was a very important moment. It changed my life completely.

I thought it was time for me to go for the big ticket — the Boxing World Cup in Mumbai. After much difficulty, I was assigned to a Norwegian coach and he asked me the price that I would charge and I said “international rates”.

I saw everyone with their flashy big cameras and I had a small camera. But I told myself, “Don’t look there.” The Norwegian guy was getting beaten up and I could see my money flying away. But I maintained focus as it might just take that one shot. I got a picture as they came dancing towards me. As I went back home, I told my wife that I did my best. Then we got a long ring on the phone, which meant it was an international call. The German person on the phone said that the photographs had arrived and that they were fantastic and I made $900 — three times of what I was expecting. I got another cheque after a few days, which scared the daylights out of me. I kept receiving $900 again and again as others reused those photos. That was a miracle.

Diving into acting

This served as a launch pad for my career. I took a loan from someone to open my studio. It was a wrong thing to do as I had just two clients over a period of one year and three more in the next year. I was broke and did not have money to even pay for petrol for my scooter.

Things changed. One day Shiamak Davar walked into my studio as he wanted to get photographed. While walking out, he said that I would be really famous someday. He called me after six months saying he wanted to take me out for lunch, and I don’t say no to free lunch. Instead he made me meet Alyque Padamsee and he fixed an audition for me where he told me that he had been in the business for 14 years and that I had absolutely no talent.

The first musical that I was cast in, I am proud to say as a professional actor that I played the role of a pimp. I did one song which was called The Pimp Song and suddenly, the audience started whistling. I loved it. I loved the audience, I loved the stage, I loved the lights. I was born for this. There was another play where I had to play the role of a 75-year-old and we practised for six months.

The next role I was offered was for Mahatma vs Gandhi, where I played Gandhi and I had told them that they had got the wrong guy. Pagal ho gaya hai kya? I had to lose weight which was the main challenge and I lost 27-28kg.

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S

I met Vinod (Vidhu Vinod Chopra) and he offered me a cheque for Rs 2 lakh and when I asked him what the movie was about, he said he didn’t know. Then I got a call from him sometime later and he said that they had a movie in mind called Munna Bhai M.B.B.S in which a gunda wanted to become a doctor and I would play the role of the dean of the college who keeps on laughing. It had the worst storyline ever. Then I met Raju (Hirani) and we sat together for six hours at a stretch. I liked his passion and the fire with which he read the script.

After many actors walked out of the movie, I was given the role as they had already paid me. The only star then in the film was Gracy Singh, as no one had heard of me and Sanjay (Dutt) had also given many flops.

We were on such a tight budget that we did not have the money to shoot the marriage scene and that had to be done on someone else’s mandap and before they came, we ran off. The movie released in December, and in 10-12 days, the nominations for the award shows came out and the film was nominated in almost all categories.

When the suit arrived for the awards show, it fit me like a glove. As I was tying my tie in the green room, I heard my name being called out in Best Actor in a Comic Role category and everyone was applauding. As I was climbing the stairs, guess what? I tripped. I got up, embraced myself, and I walked further and I took the award.

I want to end this session with one note: I promised myself to maintain the fire in my belly and to get excited by every opportunity I get.