Playing Boman

Quite contrary to Khosla Ka Ghosla,Munnabhai M.B.B.S and 3 Idiots,where he played brooding yet comic roles ,in Mirch the actor is a happy-go-lucky guy who gets into a terrible mess and desperately tries to wriggle out of the situation. The actor,who loves to talk about himself,his life and his craft,says,In one of the stories in the film I play a Sindhi character who thinks that he is on the top of his game. But then his marital life gets a bit of a jolt. It was a fun role for me because it is awkward and edgy. While essaying the role,Bomans concern was that the audience should take him for a true-blooded Sindhi. The only Sindhi word I knew was sai! I did not want the audiences to watch the film and say Look heres a Parsi playing a Sindhi character. I wanted to get into the skin of my character, says Boman. So the actor did not throw himself into the role without the much-needed research. The struggle was to find a Sindhi whose mannerisms I could ape, he says.

He did succeed in finding a Sindhi gentleman who owned a wine shop. The guy was very typically Sindhi but every time Boman approached him,he would put on a facade! Disappointed,Boman stopped meeting him. He then called upon a Sindhi actor from Film and Television Institute of India FTII and his new discovery totally took him by surprise. The actor was a regular Sindhi guy from a suburb in Mumbai but his approach was unique. Every time I asked him about how a Sindhi would react to a particular situation he would start by saying Oh! my dad would do it this way or My uncle would have said it like this. All this helped me get the aesthetics and mannerisms of my character right, quips the verstaile actor. In his dedication to stay in character throughout the shoot Boman landed up persuading his guide to be with him on the sets too !

In the film,the actor shares screen presence with Konkana Sensharma. Recalling the first time the two met,he says,I first met her when she was casting for her mother Aparna Sens film Mr. And Mrs. Iyer. She wanted me to play a role in the film. The duo finally worked together in Page 3. Thats when Boman and Konkana became good friends. When we met again after years on the sets of Mirch,it felt like it was just yesterday that we had wrapped up the shooting of Page 3. I am indeed very fond for Konkana,as she always adds so much of maturity and class to every role she essays.

Boman,who turned a year older on December 2,is a teenager at heart. I feel like a 21-year-old with a little extra pocket-money, he laughs. So,how does it feel to be going strong at 52? For me age really was never a consideration. Also,I have been around in the industry for less than a decade so I feel like a kid. Many might think that Im living in a fools paradise but thats perfectly okay with me, he says.

The actor recently received the Achiever of the Decade Award at the Teachers Achievement Awards function. But the honour came as a huge surprise to him. He explains,I had just returned from Germany in the morning and had to head to Dubai the next day. But I went for the awards function as I was asked by the organisers to attend. I thought they asked me to be there due to my long association with them. When I reached the function I met Anupam Kher and for some reason he just could not stop grinning when he met me. Probably he knew that I was to be given the award. And then suddenly in the middle of the function a video of a compilation of my work was screened. That set the tone for what was to come next, says the actor,who admits that he was a little embarrassed while delivering the acceptance speech. That is because I have been around in the industry for just the last eight years. But,nevertheless I am humbled by the award.While Boman awaits the release of Mirch,hes keeping himself busy. At the moment he is planning his trip to Las Vegas for the shooting of Short Term Shaadi. Then there are Nikhil Advanis Ab Dilli Door Nahin and Ravi Chopras Banda Yeh Bindass Hai. I am looking forward to BYBH as there is Govinda in the film. Then there is Game,a film that Im eagerly anticipating and Don-2,a movie that the world is looking forward to. As for Ferrari Ki Sawari,the shooting will not begin until next year, he says.