Boman Irani on growing up as a ‘scared child', says father died before he was born: ‘My mother would suffer anxiety attacks in the middle of night'
Out of the several thousands of faces that try to make it as an actor in Bollywood, very few actually get the chance to showcase their talent on the biggest stage. Among those few, even fewer manage to stay relevant for a long time while delivering diverse and engaging performances, and Boman Irani is one such actor. Once working as a waiter at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, Irani made it to the big leagues, and he did it even after starting almost a lap behind other stars due to the turmoils he faced in his personal life. In a recent interview, the Munna Bhai MBBS actor talked about losing his father to Nephritis before he was even born, and how his mother raised him through all that.
While making an appearance on the Raj Shamani podcast, Boman talked about his journey as an actor and also reflected upon his childhood. He talked about his father's passing and admitted that he never truly understood the concept of a father because he never experienced it for himself. Shamani asked him about how he felt about his passing, to which Irani replied, 'How could I feel anything? I never saw him. How can I feel the absence of something if I never had it in the first place? I never knew what a father was.'
ALSO READ: David Dhawan was a 'dummy director', went missing from shoots, fed 'zeher' in Govinda's mind: Pahlaj Nihalani
He continued talking about his childhood and how everyone in his family was overprotective about him, which in turn made him a very shy and nervous child. 'I was a very scared child. When a kid loses his father, the family dotes on him, which creates a certain comfort zone. I wasn't tough enough for the world back then, and I couldn't even talk or express myself properly.' He admitted that there was no real male role model in his life, and because of that he turned to mischief as he grew up. He then turned to how his mother suffered after being widowed at a young age and how she raised him despite health-related issues and financial problems.
Irani said, 'After my father passed away, my mother served a long stint in the hospital, and the wafer shop that we owned also suffered a lot due to my father's absence. My mother decided to take all the problems by the throat, and she wanted her kids to have a prosperous life. She first decided to take care of all the money we owed to people because she didn't want anyone questioning the family.' He added that 'My mother wasn't a strong woman, but she became one.' Irani also admitted that all this work and responsibility did take a toll on his mother as well, as he frequently suffered from panic attacks. He said, 'She had to deal with so much in her life, and all that stress used to materialise as anxiety attacks. In the middle of the night, or early in the morning, she used to start feeling anxious and feel like she was dying. We didn't have a phone at the house, so as an 11-year-old, I used to walk 3 km to get a doctor.'
On the professional front, Irani will next be seen in Detective Sherdil alongside Diljit Dosanjh, Ratna Pathak Shah, Diana Penty, and Sumeet Vyas. The film will be available for streaming on Zee5 from June 20.
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Out of the several thousands of faces that try to make it as an actor in Bollywood, very few actually get the chance to showcase their talent on the biggest stage. Among those few, even fewer manage to stay relevant for a long time while delivering diverse and engaging performances, and Boman Irani is one such actor. Once working as a waiter at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, Irani made it to the big leagues, and he did it even after starting almost a lap behind other stars due to the turmoils he faced in his personal life. In a recent interview, the Munna Bhai MBBS actor talked about losing his father to Nephritis before he was even born, and how his mother raised him through all that. While making an appearance on the Raj Shamani podcast, Boman talked about his journey as an actor and also reflected upon his childhood. He talked about his father's passing and admitted that he never truly understood the concept of a father because he never experienced it for himself. Shamani asked him about how he felt about his passing, to which Irani replied, 'How could I feel anything? I never saw him. How can I feel the absence of something if I never had it in the first place? I never knew what a father was.' ALSO READ: David Dhawan was a 'dummy director', went missing from shoots, fed 'zeher' in Govinda's mind: Pahlaj Nihalani He continued talking about his childhood and how everyone in his family was overprotective about him, which in turn made him a very shy and nervous child. 'I was a very scared child. When a kid loses his father, the family dotes on him, which creates a certain comfort zone. I wasn't tough enough for the world back then, and I couldn't even talk or express myself properly.' He admitted that there was no real male role model in his life, and because of that he turned to mischief as he grew up. He then turned to how his mother suffered after being widowed at a young age and how she raised him despite health-related issues and financial problems. Irani said, 'After my father passed away, my mother served a long stint in the hospital, and the wafer shop that we owned also suffered a lot due to my father's absence. My mother decided to take all the problems by the throat, and she wanted her kids to have a prosperous life. She first decided to take care of all the money we owed to people because she didn't want anyone questioning the family.' He added that 'My mother wasn't a strong woman, but she became one.' Irani also admitted that all this work and responsibility did take a toll on his mother as well, as he frequently suffered from panic attacks. He said, 'She had to deal with so much in her life, and all that stress used to materialise as anxiety attacks. In the middle of the night, or early in the morning, she used to start feeling anxious and feel like she was dying. We didn't have a phone at the house, so as an 11-year-old, I used to walk 3 km to get a doctor.' On the professional front, Irani will next be seen in Detective Sherdil alongside Diljit Dosanjh, Ratna Pathak Shah, Diana Penty, and Sumeet Vyas. The film will be available for streaming on Zee5 from June 20.
