Essential to find honesty in what one does: Boman Irani

On this edition of CNBC-TV18's Beautiful People, meet Boman Irani who in just a little over a decade has become a leading presence in Hindi cinema. From small-niche films to main-stream box-office hits, Boman Irani is one of the busiest and most popular actors today.

Boman Irani speaks to CNBC-TV18 after the release of a new film in which he is playing not just the leading role or the role of the protagonist, but the role of the leading man. Below is an edited transcript of the interview on CNBC-TV18. Q: So in this film, you are, for the first time according to convention, the leading man?
A: Please don't repeat it…. Q: Why are you feeling embarrassed?
A: No, I'm not embarrassed, but the connotations are very different in public. Okay, yes, I'm playing the leading man. Q: How do you pick your movies? Why did you take up Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi?
A: The script was extremely sweet and the casting was great. There have been many offers to do lead roles. I had performed the lead role in an earlier film, Well Done, Abba,  but it was hardly romantic. The reason why I acted in this film was because it offered me the opportunity to spread my wings and see if I could hold a film together and take a chance in grafting a character a little differently. I wanted to get some breathing space to graft the character, which for me is great fun as an actor. It was a learning experience. Q: So you took up the role because it challenged you personally. Now that the movie is out, what is your assessment of your performance?
A: I am always critical of what I do and I've prospered because of that. Though craft is essential, it very important is to find honesty in what one does. If you are honest and not a great actor, the performance will always be good. If one is a well-trained actor and is able to mix training and craft with honesty, then the performance becomes great. Someday I will be happy with what I do. Q: And not yet?
A: I'm satisfied to a certain extent. In this whole process of being overtly critical about oneself, let's not forget the fact that that it's just an opinion. But after a couple of weeks I am less harsh on myself because the reaction to the film is nice.
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The public, friends and people who don't call you often tell me that they have enjoyed the film, which is great and I have to respect that. Though the audience loves the movie, one has to get back to the drawing table and assume that the public may be wrong. But one always has to savour success at the same time. Artistic success has to be addressed in an introspective manner, but that's later on. Q: So in this and the previous film Ferrari Ki Sawaari, you play the role a Parsi. Is that a challenge?
A: Sure it isn't. What do you guys do for a living? Do you just sit there and comment that playing a Parsi is not a challenge? Q: What's the big deal? You are a Parsi and is it not second nature to playing yourself?
A: Actually, you are right. Q: I am just teasing. Tell me what you make of this increased interest in the Parsi community?
A: What I think the public seems to forget is that the Parsi community has played a very integral role in the he building of this nation. So, it’s not a flavor brought in for the season. Parsis have been at forefront in every sphere of this nation and I think that the public has to be reminded of this every now and then. Q: How is the Hindi film industry looking at this? Is it just another trend or are they two stories which were interesting to the people who made them into films?
A: I think it boils down to that and has worked in these both films. Ferrari Ki Sawaari is about honesty and honesty going wrong. I hope someone makes a biopic about Ratan Tata. Q: And you'd like to act in the biopic?
A: I'd like to act in that biopic. Q: What is the Parsi community's opinion about these two films?
A: I think they are pretty happy. Q: Even in Shirin Farhad... where it seemed like little over the top and stereotyped?
A: It's a comedy, so it's all right. Eventually, the objective of a film is not to change lives, but to offer the common man a good time - make him laugh and cry.