Don’t let other people decide my timeline: Boman Irani on directing a film at 65

Actor Boman Irani says it is not a ‘big deal’ that he has turned a director at 65 with The Mehta Boys, as there is no correct age to pursue one’s dreams. Irani—who made his acting debut with Rajkumar Hirani’s Munnabhai M.B.B.S in 2003 and before that worked as a waiter at a top hotel, did photography and managed his mother’s bakery shop—said it was important to embrace one’s desires regardless of the timelines set by others.

“Since childhood, I always thought that someday I was going to be a director. I don’t understand this stereotype that a person becomes an actor at 25 and a director at 35. I don’t let other people decide my diary and timeline, I’ll do it when I’m ready. I don’t advise people to wait till they are 65 to make their debut, I don’t, but for me, that was the way to go. I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Irani said.

Irani, known for his performance in movies such as Lage Raho Munnabhai, Khosla Ka Ghosla, 3 Idiots, Don, Dunki and Unchai, said he had always wanted to do a lot more things in his life, whether it was acting, directing or writing. “If you don’t have a great ‘want’, you don’t have a story to tell. I don’t look at it that I’m 65. I do what I want to and I do what I enjoy.”

In his directorial debut The Mehta Boys, Irani explores the complexities of family relationships and the emotional intricacies of a father-son bond. The actor-director credited his filmmaker friend, Sujoy Ghosh, for giving him the basic idea of a father-son story for the movie, which is written by Irani along with the Academy Award-winning writer Alexander Dinelaris of Birdman fame.