Boman Irani
Boman Irani is an Indian theatre and film actor, voice artist and photographer of Irani descent, who works in Bollywood films. After making his film debut with the 2003 anthology horror film Darna Mana Hai, Irani had his first commercial success with the 2003 comedy Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. He subsequently starred in several highly successful productions including Main Hoon Na, Veer-Zaara, No Entry, Don, Heyy Babyy, Dostana, Housefull, Cocktail, Jolly LLB, Bhoothnath Returns, Housefull 3 and . Irani's highest-grossing releases came with several films that rank among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time, including Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 3 Idiots, Don 2, Housefull 2, Happy New Year, PK, Dilwale, Sanju and Total Dhamaal. His performance in 3 Idiots won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Early life
Irani was born on 2 December 1959, in Bombay to an Irani Zoroastrian family. He finished his schooling in St. Mary's School, Mumbai. Irani was dyslexic and had ADHD and had a lisp. He overcame his lisp eventually. He undertook a two-year waiter course at Mithibai College in Mumbai. After his polytechnic diploma course, he joined the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and worked there as a waiter and in room service. He was promoted and finally worked as a waiter at the rooftop French restaurant, Rendezvous. He worked at the Taj Mahal for two years.Career
Photography career
While he was at school, he used to watch movies at the Alexander Cinema daily after school. His mother often encouraged him to watch the movies repeatedly, to observe their cinematography and art. Irani's father died six months before Irani was born, but had a namkeen shop, which his mother took over thereafter. Irani also worked at this shop on Grant Road till he was 32 years old. This ancestral bakery and namkeen shop was located in the Grant road area of Mumbai, between Novelty and Apsara Cinemas, and was also where he first met his wife.While working at the Taj, using the tips that he received, Irani bought a camera and took sports pictures, selling them for twenty to thirty rupees, which he continued till well after marriage. His epiphany came when he saved money for seven years to take his family for their first ever vacation to Ooty, but they ended up in a desolate run-down hotel called Shawham Palace. Irani decided to take control of his life, and instead of living the petty existence of a photographer selling small photos, he would started to dream and live big and provide more for his family. Irani calls it his "zero number bulb moment".
Irani continued to be a photographer, but now at the age of 32, went six months prior to the world boxing championships at Mumbai to meet Adajania, the then president of the Olympic boxing association of India, and requested to become the official photographer of the World Cup. When Adajania told him there was no need for him, Irani offered to work at his office for six months for free in return for a ring-side badge to cover the event. He continued to try to convince Adajania, and covered a state boxing match in a different manner than other photographers. Adajania was impressed by his photos and his passion and appointed Irani as the official photographer.
Meanwhile, he became the photographer for the Norwegian boxing team and photographed specific photos that they needed of Ole Klemetsen. When asked about his charges, Irani asked for the international rate. Irani took the required photos with his K-1000.
Theatrical career
Acting had been a passion for Irani during his school and college days. He trained under acting coach Hansraj Siddhia from 1981 to 1983.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. 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 to date is I am not Bajirao which ran for 10 years.
Film career
Irani moved to films in 2000. He started out in a number of advertisements such as Fanta, Ceat and Krackjack biscuits.His small but significant role in Darna Mana Hai earned him acclaim. The film was declared a hit, and he was one of the most remembered segments of the film along with 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 Filmfare Award nomination for Best Comedian. 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. Irani has appeared in many comedic roles, supporting roles and negative roles. 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 in Macau, 2010 in Colombo and 2011 in Toronto. 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.
Producer
He launched his production house Irani Movietone on 24 January 2019. The logo was unveiled by Amitabh Bachchan.Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | Everybody Says I'm Fine! | Mr. Mittal | |
| 2002 | Let's Talk | Nikhil | |
| 2003 | Darna Mana Hai | Hotel owner | |
| 2003 | Boom | Diamond Dealer | Cameo appearance |
| 2003 | Munnabhai M.B.B.S. | Dr. J. C. Asthana | Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role |
| 2004 | Main Hoon Na | Principal | Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role |
| 2004 | Lakshya | Mr. Sanjeev Shergill | |
| 2004 | Veer-Zaara | Jahangir Hayaat Khan | |
| 2005 | Page 3 | Deepak Suri | |
| 2005 | ' | Natu | |
| 2005 | My Wife's Murder | Inspector Tejpal Randhawa | |
| 2005 | No Entry | Minister P.K. Gupta | |
| 2005 | Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara | Public Prosecutor | |
| 2005 | ' | Michael Burnett / Santa Claus | |
| 2005 | ' | Yashwant Dayal | |
| 2005 | Bluffmaster | Dr. Bhalerao | |
| 2005 | Mr Prime Minister | ||
| 2005 | Being Cyrus | Farokh Sethna | |
| 2006 | Shaadi Se Pehle | Dr Rustam | |
| 2006 | Pyare Mohan | Tony Alias Dholakia | |
| 2006 | Yun Hota To Kya Hota | DCP | Special appearance |
| 2006 | Lage Raho Munna Bhai | Lucky Singh | Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role |
| 2006 | Khosla Ka Ghosla | Kishen Khurana | |
| 2006 | Don - The Chase Begins Again | DCP DeSilva / Vardhaan | |
| 2007 | ' | Rana Jayawardhan | |
| 2007 | Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. | Oscar Fernandes | |
| 2007 | Heyy Babyy | Bharat Sahni | |
| 2007 | Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal | Tony Singh | |
| 2008 | Woodstock Villa | ||
| 2008 | Love Story 2050 | Professor Yatin Khanna / Uncle Ya | |
| 2008 | Kismat Konnection | Rajiv Batra | Guest appearance |
| 2008 | Rishton Ki Machine | ||
| 2008 | Dostana | M | |
| 2008 | Yuvvraaj | Dr P.K. Banton | |
| 2008 | Sorry Bhai! | Navin | |
| 2008 | Maharathi | AD Merchant | |
| 2009 | Luck by Chance | Dinaz Aziz | Cameo appearance |
| 2009 | Little Zizou | Boman Pressvala | |
| 2009 | 99 | Rahul | |
| 2009 | Kambakkht Ishq | Doctor | Cameo appearance |
| 2009 | Perfect Mismatch | Mr. Patel | |
| 2009 | Fruit and Nut | Maharaja Harry Holkar | |
| 2009 | Durbar | ||
| 2009 | Front Page | ||
| 2009 | 3 Idiots | Viru Sahastrabuddhe | Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2009 | Mungilal Rocks | ||
| 2010 | Well Done Abba | Arman Ali / Rahman Ali | |
| 2010 | Teen Patti | Special appearance | |
| 2010 | Hum Tum Aur Ghost | Kapoor | |
| 2010 | Mirch | Asu Hotmal | |
| 2010 | Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai | Special appearance | |
| 2010 | Housefull | Batuk Patel | |
| 2011 | F.A.L.T.U | Principal Sharma | Special appearance |
| 2011 | Game | O. P. Ramsay | |
| 2011 | Love Breakups Zindagi | Sheila's Dad | Cameo appearance |
| 2011 | ' | Vardhaan | |
| 2012 | Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu | Rahul's father | |
| 2012 | Housefull 2 | Batuk Patel | |
| 2012 | Tezz | Sanjay Raina | |
| 2012 | Ferrari Ki Sawaari | Deboo | |
| 2012 | Cocktail | Randhir kapoor | |
| 2012 | Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi | Farhad | |
| 2012 | Student of the Year | Harkishan Sanan | Guest Appearance |
| 2013 | Jolly LLB | Advocate Rajpal | |
| 2013 | Attarintiki Daredi | Raghu Nandan | Telugu film |
| 2014 | Youngistaan | Prime Minister Dashrath Kaul | Guest appearance |
| 2014 | Bhoothnath Returns | Bhausaheb | |
| 2014 | Happy New Year | Tehmton Irani | |
| 2014 | PK | Cherry Bajwa | |
| 2015 | Bengal Tiger | Ashok Gajapathi | Telugu film |
| 2015 | Dilwale | King | |
| 2016 | Santa Banta Pvt Ltd | Santheshwar Singh Solaid/ Santa | |
| 2016 | Housefull 3 | Batuk Patel | |
| 2016 | The Legend of Michael Mishra | Fp | |
| 2016 | Ventilator | Doctor | Marathi film |
| 2017 | ' | Makarand's father | Marathi film |
| 2018 | Agnyaathavaasi | Govind Bhargav alias Vinda | Telugu film |
| 2018 | Naa Peru Surya, Naa Illu India | Col. Sanjay Shrivastav | Telugu film |
| 2018 | Himanshu Shukla | ||
| 2018 | Sanju | Ruby's father and himself | |
| 2018 | Welcome to New York | Mr. Garry | |
| 2018 | Khajoor Pe Atke | Abhishek | |
| 2019 | Total Dhamaal | Commissioner Shamsher "Don" Singh | |
| 2019 | PM Narendra Modi | Industrialist Ratan Tata | |
| 2019 | Jhalki | Kailash Satyarthi | |
| 2019 | Kaappaan | Rajan Mahadev | Tamil film |
| 2019 | Made in China | Dr. Vardhi | - |
| 2019 | Drive | Irrfan | |
| 2020 | Maska | Himself | Guest appearance |
| 2020 | Yuvarathnaa | Kannada film; Filming | |
| 2020 | 83 | Farokh Engineer | Filming |