Vishal Bhardwaj, Imtiaz Ali on Boman’s wish list

NEW DELHI - Boman Irani has had his pick of roles and worked with successful directors like Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai and Rajkumar Hirani. On the actor’s wish list now are two directors whose films are ready for release — Vishal Bharadwaj and Imtiaz Ali.

“I have been very lucky because I got to work with the best of directors in the industry and have shared screen space with amazing and most talented actors. However, I would really like to work with Imtiaz Ali and Vishal Bhardwaj, Boman told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

Both the directors are great with their work and have made some very good films, he added.

Boman made his debut in Bollywood with Mansoor Khan’s Josh nine years ago. After that he appeared in movies like “Everybody Say I’m Fine”, “Boom” etc, but he shot to fame as the eccentric Dr. J.C. Asthana in Rajkumar Hirani’s 2003 hit Munnabhai M.B.B.S.

He then went on to win kudos for his performances in films like Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Don - The Chase Begins Again and Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.

Although the 46-year-old has essayed powerful roles in films like Darna Mana Hai, Page 3, My Wife’s Murder, Maharathi and Eklavya: The Royal Guard, he has been more appreciated in comic roles.

But the actor says it wasn’t a conscious decision to take up more comedies.

There has never been a conscious decision to do more comedies. In fact most of my roles are not comical in nature. It’s just that the situations and the circumstances make the character a little funny and the films are such that they have a humorous streak to them, said Boman, who was a professional photographer before becoming an actor.

Boman’s next film is also a laugh riot. Titled Perfect Mismatch, the film revolves around inter-caste marriage and the actor has teamed up with his Khosla Ka Ghosla co-star Anupam Kher.

I found the character of a Gujarati father very interesting. In fact my character is incomplete without Anupam’s character in the film whose name is Bhalla.

“The film basically revolves around an inter-caste marriage between our kids. Because of our diverse cultures, there is sweet friction between the two of us which is very interesting,” said the actor.

Shot entirely in the US, the film also stars Nandana Sen along with newcomer Anubhav Anand and is releasing Friday.

When asked about his camaraderie with Anupam, the actor said: “Anupam and I connected with each other very well. It is always great fun and a learning experience working with an actor like him.

After “Perfect Mismatch”, Boman has a bouquet of films lined up, including Rajkumar Hirani’s “Three Idiots”, Ravi Chopra’s “Banda Yeh Bindas Hai”, Shyam Benegal’s “Well Done Abba” and Farhan Akhtar’s “Karthik Calling Karthik” among others.