Boman Irani

Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian actor and comedian who works 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.

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. She died in June 2021 at 94.

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. 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. 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.

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.

In addition to acting, Irani has hosted the IIFA Awards on various occasions. 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.

He launched his production house Irani Movietone in January 2019. In the same year, Irani played the role of Dr. Balraj Kapoor in the web series Masoom.

Boman Irani is also a brand ambassador for Puri Oil, Exotica, Kent RO, Ahead NGO, and Saffola. He is also on the Board of Advisors of India's International Movement to Unite Nations (I.I.M.U.N.).

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.

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. Screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris conducted the first workshop of Spiral Bound. The masterclass continued in online sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guest speakers included playwright Anosh Irani and directors Rajkumar Hirani, Ram Madhvani, and Shakun Batra. Spiral Bound has completed more than 500 sessions.

Filmography

As actor Year Title Role Notes 2001 Everybody Says I'm Fine! Mr. Mittal 2002 Let's Talk Nikhil Sharma 2003Darna Mana HaiHotel OwnerSegment: No Smoking Boom Diamond Dealer Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. Dr. Jagdish Chandra "JC" Asthana 2004 Main Hoon Na Principal Yogesh AgarwalLakshya Sanjeev ShergillVeer-Zaara Jahangir Hayaat Khan 2005 Page 3 Deepak Suri Waqt: The Race Against Time Natham "Nattu" SinghMy 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 DholakiaYun Hota To Kya Hota DCP Amarkant ChauhanLage 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 SinghHoneymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.Oscar FernandesHeyy 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 MathurMaharathi Avvaldas "AD" Merchant 2009 Luck by Chance Deenaz Aziz Little Zizou Boman Pressvala99 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 SharmaGame Om Prakash "OP" RamsayLove 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" KapoorShirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi Farhad AhmedStudent of the Year Harikishan Sanon Special appearance 2013 Jolly LLB Advocate Tejinder Rajpal Attarintiki Daredi Raghunath "Raghu" Nandan Telugu film 2014 Youngistaan PM Dashrath Kaul Cameo appearance Bhoothnath Returns Bhushan Sharma / Bhausaheb Happy New Year Tehamton "Tammy" Irani PKCherry 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 Cameo appearance Ventilator Dr. Sairam Sukhranjan Marathi film 2017FU: Friendship Unlimited Bulmukand 2018 Agnyaathavaasi Govind "Vinda" BhargavTelugu filmNaa 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 Zaveri2019Total DhamaalCommissioner Shamsher "Don" SinghPM Narendra Modi Ratan TataJhalki Kailash SatyarthiKaappaan Rajan Mahadev Tamil filmMade in ChinaDr. Shankar VardhiDrive Irfan Ali Mohammed2020Maska Himself202183 Farokh Engineer2022Runway 34Nishant Suri Jayeshbhai Jordaar Samarth Parekh Naam Tha Kanhaiyalal Himself Documentary UunchaiJaved Siddiqui 2023 DunkiGeetendar "Geetu" Gulati2025The Mehta Boys Mr. Shiv MehtaAlso directorHai Junoon!Professor IyerWeb seriesDetective SherdilPankaj BhattiTanvi the GreatRaja Sahab2026The RajaSaabDr. PadmabhushanTelugu filmRaja ShivajiPeer BabaMarathi-Hindi bilingual filmPeddiKiran Singh BaiswalTelugu filmHaiwaanHindi

Awards and nominations