Boman Irani

Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian actor and comedian who works mainly in Hindi films. He came to screen acting relatively late, in 2000, after years as a photographer and stage actor, and has since appeared in over 100 films. He has won a Filmfare Award and two IIFA Awards, and is best known for comic and character roles in films such as Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. and 3 Idiots. Telugu audiences know him from a supporting role in Attarintiki Daredi (2013).

Early life

Irani was born in Mumbai and grew up with three elder sisters, Shirin, Shenaz and Roshan. After finishing school at St. Mary’s School, he took a two-year waiter’s course at Mithibai College, and he also helped manage the bakery and namkeen shop run by his mother, Jerbanoo, in Mumbai.

A career in photography

While working at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Irani began photographing school cricket and football matches and selling the prints for 20 to 30 rupees each. He kept at photography for years. When he asked Aspy Adajania, then president of the Indian Boxing Association, to let him photograph the World Boxing Championships in Mumbai and was turned down, he offered to work in Adajania’s office in return for the assignment. He went on to cover state boxing events and was eventually made the association’s official photographer. He also photographed for the Norwegian boxing team.

Theatre and television

Irani had wanted to act since his school days, and he trained under the acting coach Hansraj Siddhia from 1981 to 1983. Mentored by the actor Alyque Padamsee, he appeared in many stage plays, including Roshni at the Regional Theater in Versova, and in television serials such as Family Ties. He played Gandhi in Mahatma vs Gandhi after the actor Darshan Jariwala turned the role down.

Film career

He moved to screen acting in 2000, first appearing in commercials, and a small role in Darna Mana Hai brought him critical praise. Wider attention came with the 2003 comedy Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., where his performance as J. Asthana earned a Filmfare nomination for Best Performance in a Comic Role. He returned for the sequel, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, and won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for 3 Idiots (2009), which also brought him the Screen Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role.

His long list of films includes Main Hoon Na, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Don, Jolly LLB, PK, Sanju, 83 and Dunki, as well as several entries in the Housefull comedy series.

Telugu film

In Trivikram Srinivas’s action comedy drama Attarintiki Daredi (2013), which stars Pawan Kalyan, Samantha and Pranitha Subhash, Irani appears in a supporting role alongside Nadhiya and Brahmanandam.

Directing, producing and other work

Irani launched his production house, Irani Movietone, in January 2019; alongside advertising work, it produced his first feature as director, The Mehta Boys (2025), which he co-wrote with Alexander Dinelaris and which was released on Amazon Prime Video. In 2019 he also played Dr. Balraj Kapoor in the web series Masoom.

In 2020 he started Spiral Bound, a masterclass that brings together amateur and professional screenwriters; it has held more than 500 sessions. He has hosted the IIFA Awards several times and the quiz show Bollywood Ka Boss, and he voiced J. R. D. Tata in the audiobook of the biography Beyond the Last Blue Mountain.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.