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Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian actor and comedian who worked primarily in Hindi-language films. He has featured in over 100 films, and is the recipient of a Filmfare Award and two IIFA Awards.
Some of his notable works include Munna Bhai MBBS (2003), Veer-Zaara, Main Hoon Na, Lakshya (all 2004), No Entry (2005), Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Don (both 2006), Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), Heyy Babyy (2007), Dostana (2008), 3 Idiots (2009), Housefull (2010), Don 2 (2011), Housefull 2, Cocktail (both 2012), Jolly LLB (2013), PK, Happy New Year (both 2014), Dilwale (2015), Housefull 3 (2016), Sanju (2018), Total Dhamaal (2019), 83 (2021), Uunchai (2022) and Dunki (2023). He made his directorial debut with the self-starring drama The Mehta Boys (2025).
Early life
Irani was born on 2 December 1959, in Mumbai to an Irani Zoroastrian family. His father died 6 months before Irani was born. He has 3 elder sisters: Shirin, Shenaz, and Roshan. Irani grew up with dyslexia in his childhood, which he eventually overcame.[1][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. Irani also managed a bakery and namkeen shop in Mumbai that was run by his mother, Jerbanoo.[3] She died in June 2021 at 94.[4]
Career
Photography career
While working at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, he took photos of school cricket and football matches and sold them for 20 to 30 rupees, which he continued to do up until his marriage.[5] Irani continued to work as a photographer, and asked the then President of the Indian Boxing Association, Aspy Adajania if he could become the photographer for the World Boxing Championships in Mumbai. When Adajania initially rejected him, Irani agreed to work at his office in-return to cover the event. He continued to cover other state boxing matches, until he was finally appointed by Adajania as the official photographer for the Indian Boxing Association.
Irani would also go on to become the photographer for the Norwegian Boxing Team and photograph specific photos that were needed of Norwegian boxer, Ole Klemetsen. Irani took the photos with his Pentax K1000 camera.
Theatrical career (1981–1983)
During his school days, Irani had a passion for acting, where he trained under acting coach Hansraj Siddhia from 1981 to 1983.
Irani was mentored by actor Alyque Padamsee.[6][7] Irani appeared in many theater plays such as Roshni, at the Regional Theater in Versova. He also acted in many TV serials such as Family Ties and Mahatma vs Gandhi, playing Gandhi after the role was turned down by actor Darshan Jariwala.[6]
Film career (2000–present)
Irani moved to on-screen acting in 2000. He appeared in a number of commercials for Fanta, Ambuja Cements and CEAT Limited.[8]
His small but significant role in Darna Mana Hai earned him critical acclaim. The film was declared a hit, and he was seen in a segment featuring 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 nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role. He would go on to star in its sequel Lage Raho Munna Bhai for which he received several IIFA award nominations. He also starred in the comedy-drama 3 Idiots opposite Aamir Khan which earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Screen Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role.Template:Citation needed
In addition to acting, Irani has hosted the IIFA Awards on various occasions.[9] He also hosted the quiz show Bollywood Ka Boss. He has also appeared in Kaun Banega Crorepati with Sanjay Dutt, and has featured in various commercials.[10]
He launched his production house Irani Movietone in January 2019.[11][12][13] In the same year, Irani played the role of Dr. Balraj Kapoor in the web series Masoom.[14]
Boman Irani is also a brand ambassador for Puri Oil,[15][16] Exotica,[17] Kent RO,[18] Ahead NGO,[19] and Saffola.[20] He is also on the Board of Advisors of India's International Movement to Unite Nations (I.I.M.U.N.).[21]
Other works
He provided the voice of J. R. D. Tata in the audiobook of his biography by Charkha Audiobooks, Beyond the Last Blue Mountain written by R. M. Lala, alongside Shernaz Patel as narrator.Template:Citation needed
Ventures
Irani Movietone
Founded by Boman Irani in 2019, Irani Movietone is a film production cum creative house that specialises in providing advertising and branding solutions in all media formats. Sugar Cosmetics, JSW One, PMark Mustard Oil and Quench Botanics are some of the notable clients who advertising with Irani Movietone.
‘The Mehta Boys’ is its first feature film production directed by Boman Irani and written by Alexander Dinelaris and Boman Irani. The film has been released on Amazon Prime Video.
Spiral Bound
In 2020, Irani began a masterclass named Spiral Bound with the aim of uniting amateur and professional screenwriters.[22] Screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris conducted the first workshop of Spiral Bound.[23] The masterclass continued in online sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic.[22][24][25][26][27] Guest speakers included playwright Anosh Irani and directors Rajkumar Hirani, Ram Madhvani, and Shakun Batra.[28][23][29] Spiral Bound has completed more than 500 sessions.[30]
Filmography
As actor
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Everybody Says I'm Fine! | Resomon Mittal | |
| 2002 | Let's Talk | Nikhil Sharma | |
| 2003 | Darna Mana Hai | Hotel Owner | Segment: No Smoking |
| Boom | Diamond Dealer | ||
| Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. | Dr. Jagdish Chandra "JC" Asthana | ||
| 2004 | Main Hoon Na | Principal Yogesh Agarwal | |
| Lakshya | Sanjeev Shergill | ||
| Veer-Zaara | Jahangir Hayaat Khan | ||
| 2005 | Page 3 | Deepak Suri | |
| Waqt: The Race Against Time | Natham "Nattu" Singh | ||
| My Wife's Murder | Inspector Tejpal Randhawa | ||
| No Entry | Minister Pranab Kumar "PK" Gupta | ||
| Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara | Public Prosecutor Avinash Roy | ||
| Home Delivery: Aapko... Ghar Tak | Michael Burnett / Santa Claus | ||
| Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow | Yashwant Dayal Singh | ||
| Bluffmaster | Dr. Vijay Bhalerao | ||
| Mr Prime Minister | Member of Parliament | ||
| Being Cyrus | Farokh Sethna | English film | |
| 2006 | Shaadi Se Pehle | Dr. Rustam Ali | |
| Pyare Mohan | Tony Dholakia | ||
| Yun Hota To Kya Hota | DCP Amarkant Chauhan | ||
| Lage Raho Munna Bhai | Lakhbir "Lucky" Singh | ||
| Khosla Ka Ghosla | Kishan Khurana | ||
| Don – The Chase Begins Again | P De Silva | ||
| 2007 | Eklavya: The Royal Guard | Rana Jayavardhan Singh | |
| Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. | Oscar Fernandes | ||
| Heyy Babyy | Bharat Sahni | ||
| Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal | Tony Singh | ||
| 2008 | Love Story 2050 | Professor Yatin Khanna | |
| Kismat Konnection | Rajiv Batra | ||
| Dostana | Murali "M" Lokhande | ||
| Yuvvraaj | Dr. Pravin Kant "PK" Banton | ||
| Sorry Bhai! | Naveen Mathur | ||
| Maharathi | Avvaldas "AD" Merchant | ||
| 2009 | Luck by Chance | Deenaz Aziz | |
| Little Zizou | Boman Pressvala | ||
| 99 | Rahul Mehrotra | ||
| Kambakkht Ishq | Dr. Sachin Mishra | ||
| Perfect Mismatch | Naresh Patel | ||
| Fruit and Nut | Maharaja Harry Holkar | ||
| 3 Idiots | Dr. Viru "Virus" Sahastrabuddhe | ||
| 2010 | Well Done Abba | Arman/Rahman Ali | |
| Hum Tum Aur Ghost | Virendra Kapoor | ||
| Mirch | Ashmit "Aasu" Hotmal | ||
| Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai | Ali | ||
| Housefull | Batook Patel | ||
| 2011 | F.A.L.T.U | Principal Karam Sharma | |
| Game | Om Prakash "OP" Ramsay | ||
| Love Breakups Zindagi | Ranveer | ||
| Don 2: The King is Back | Vardhan Makhija | ||
| 2012 | Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu | Sushil Kapoor | |
| Housefull 2 | Batook Patel | ||
| Tezz | Sanjay Raina | ||
| Ferrari Ki Sawaari | Behram Ardeshir Deboo | ||
| Cocktail | Randhir "Randy" Kapoor | ||
| Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi | Farhad Ahmed | ||
| Student of the Year | Harikishan Sanon | ||
| 2013 | Jolly LLB | Advocate Tejinder Rajpal | |
| Attarintiki Daredi | Raghunath "Raghu" Nandan | Telugu film | |
| 2014 | Youngistaan | PM Dashrath Kaul | |
| Bhoothnath Returns | Bhushan Sharma / Bhausaheb | ||
| Happy New Year | Tehamton "Tammy" Irani | ||
| PK | Cherry Bajwa | ||
| 2015 | Bengal Tiger | CM Ashok Gajapathi | Telugu film |
| Dilwale | King | ||
| 2016 | Santa Banta Pvt Ltd | Santeshwar Singh Solaid / Santa | |
| Housefull 3 | Batook Patel | ||
| The Legend of Michael Mishra | Full Pant (HP) / Older Half Pant | ||
| Ventilator | Dr. Sairam Sukhranjan | Marathi film | |
| 2017 | FU: Friendship Unlimited | Bulmukand | |
| 2018 | Agnyaathavaasi | Govind "Vinda" Bhargav | Telugu film |
| Naa Peru Surya | Colonel Sanjay Shrivastav | ||
| Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran | Himanshu Shukla | ||
| Sanju | Captain Homi Irani / Dr. Jagadish Chandra Asthana(archive footage from Munna Bhai MBBS) | Cameo appearance | |
| Welcome to New York | Gurwinder "Garry" Sandhu | ||
| Khajoor Pe Atke | Abhishek Zaveri | ||
| 2019 | Total Dhamaal | Commissioner Shamsher "Don" Singh | |
| PM Narendra Modi | Ratan Tata | ||
| Jhalki | Kailash Satyarthi | ||
| Kaappaan | Rajan Mahadev | Tamil film | |
| Made in China | Dr. Shankar Vardhi | ||
| Drive | Irfan Ali Mohammed | ||
| 2020 | Maska[31] | Himself | |
| 2021 | 83[32] | Farokh Engineer | |
| 2022 | Runway 34 | Nishant Suri | [33] |
| Jayeshbhai Jordaar | Samarth Parekh | ||
| Naam Tha Kanhaiyalal | Himself | documentary[34] | |
| Uunchai | Javed Siddiqui | [35] | |
| 2023 | Dunki | Geetendar "Geetu" Gulati | |
| 2025 | The Mehta Boys | Mr. Shiv Mehta | Also director |
| Detective Sherdil | Pankaj Bhatti | ||
| Tanvi the Great | Raja Sahab | ||
| 2026 | The RajaSaab | Dr Padmabhushan | Telugu film |
| Raja Shivaji | Template:TBA | Bilingual film | |
| Khosla ka ghosla 2 |
As dubbing artist
- Teen Patti (2010) for Ben Kingsley
Web Series
- Hai Junoon! 2025 - Professor Iyer
Awards
References
- ↑ Josh talks – Boman Irani. www.youtube.com. Josh talks. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ↑ 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(19 December 2020).
- ↑ INSPIRATIONAL LIFE AND QUOTES OF BOMAN IRANI: TRANSFORMATION FROM A DYSLEXIC, AND LISPIC CHILD TO AN ACCLAIMED BOLLYWOOD ACTOR!(7 December 2020).
- ↑ Boman Irani mourns mother Jerbanoo Irani's death, says she will always be a star, Maru, Vibha. India Today(9 June 2021). Retrieved 9 June 2021.
- ↑ From waiter to a rising star: Boman Irani. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Boman Irani gets candid. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ↑ The making of an actor. Bomanirani.com. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ↑ Actor – Ad Films – India. Boman Irani. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ↑ Riteish Deshmukh, Boman Irani are IIFA hosts again. Sify. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- ↑ Lowe Lintas highlights the 'sweet' side in the life of a diabetic for OneTouch – MullenLowe Lintas Group(17 February 2015).
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBoman Irani - ↑ Boman Irani reveals he will finally make his directorial debut this year: I hope to start by mid-2022(16 February 2022).
- ↑ Boman Irani all set to make directorial debut this year.
- ↑ Boman Irani On 'Masoom': "The Love That Has Come By For My Debut Is Overwhelming". Koimoi(2022-06-20). Retrieved 2022-06-22.
- ↑ FNB News – Boman Irani new brand ambassador of Puri Oil Mills' P Mark mustard oil | FNB News. www.fnbnews.com. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ↑ Boman Irani signs up as brand ambassador of 'P' mark mustard oil. The Economic Times(2014). Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ↑ Exotica signs Boman Irani as its brand ambassador -. www.realtynmore.com(21 October 2015). Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ↑ Kent RO Systems signs Boman Irani as the brand ambassador. Business Standard(24 January 2011). Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ↑ Boman Irani brand ambassador of NGO 'Ahead'. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ↑ Saffola appoints Boman Irani as brand ambassador; launches new TVC. Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ↑ I.I.M.U.N. || Board of Advisors. new.iimun.in. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Boman turns mentor, Pioneer, The. The Pioneer.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Masterclass with Boman Irani. mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com.
- ↑ Boman Irani clocks in 150 online screenwriting sessions of 'Spiral Bound'.
- ↑ Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Boman Irani opens up on how he came up with Spiral Bound Online Scriptwriting Sessions. YouTube(6 July 2020).Template:Cbignore
- ↑ Boman Irani opens up on how he came up with Spiral Bound online scriptwriting sessions [Exclusive](3 July 2020).
- ↑ Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Boman Irani on the Art of Screenplay Writing. YouTube(31 May 2020).Template:Cbignore
- ↑ Workplaces are still in the closet. mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com.
- ↑ Boman Irani has a productive lockdown, completes over 50 online screenwriting sessions in quarantine. The Economic Times.
- ↑ Boman Irani decodes his characters, reveals how he prepared for 3 Idiots, Khosla Ka Ghosla: 'I find learning lines on set, odd'(12 February 2022).
- ↑ 'Maska' review: An interesting premise somehow manages to yield disastrous results. The New Indian Express(28 March 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. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ↑ Boman Irani joins the cast of Ajay Devgn's Mayday. Bollywood Hungama(29 January 2021). Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ↑ NAAM THA KANHAIYALAL | DOCUFILM | HEMAA SINGH | PAWAN KUMAR | MUKESH SINGH(22 September 2024).
- ↑ Parineeti Chopra plays the role of a tourist guide in Nepal in Sooraj Barjatya's Uunchai; film shot at world's most DANGEROUS airport. Bollywood Hungama(9 October 2021). Retrieved 9 October 2021.
External links
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