“THE MEHTA BOYS COULDN’T JUST BE A SLICE-OF-LIFE’

Actor-director Boman Irani speaks about his directorial debut, how he remains objective about his own performance, and more

- SHREYAS PANDE

BOMAN Irani didn't just jump into the arts. He was once a waiter at the prestigious Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, where he would also develop a penchant for photography and start covering boxing matches for the Indian Boxing Association. It wouldn't be until he turned 43 that he would finally break out as an actor, playing the hyperbolic, animated doctor in Rajkumar Hirani's Munna Bhai MBBS (2003). More than two decades and a series of films later, he has ventured into writing, directing and producing with The Mehta Boys.

Irani, however, wanted to make a film ever since he was a kid. The turning point came when he was shooting for the late Shyam Benegal's Well Done Abba (2009). Irani would discuss some of his ideas with Benegal. "Over breakfast, we would sit and talk about rewriting some scenes in a certain manner and discuss other aspects," he says.

On one of those days, Aparna Purohit (ex-Head of Originals, Prime Video), who was working on the film, came up to Boman and said that he should make a movie. Later Purohit started working with Prime Video and called him one day.