Actor Boman Irani has revealed that his Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. co-star Arshad Warsi had urged him to try his hand at films when they shared the stage 25 years ago. At the music launch of their film The Legend of Michael Mishra, Boman said that his debut play was with Arshad 25 years ago.
During the course of the shows, Boman said that he was surprised to know that Arshad was interested in acting in films. Arshad told Irani about actress Jaya Bachchan offering him a role in the film Tere Mere Sapne.
“Arshad had got that role. He was so excited. He said to me: ‘Boman, come with me, you should also act in movies.’ I told him: ‘It is my first play and I won’t be able to do it. I don’t have the confidence yet, I haven’t done anything else than this play’. But he said: ‘Promise me, you will do films some day and we will act together’.
“And then 13-14 years later, when I made my Hindi commercial film debut with Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Arshad and I were together in that film,” said Irani. After the 2003 hit film, the duo went on to feature in films like Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Jolly LLB, Hum Tum Aur Ghost and Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.
Sharing an interesting incident from the first play, Boman said: “Arshad had done a short item song with a Trishul in it and my entry was immediately after his exit. He moved his Trishul around and threw it… where his assistant was present to catch it. But on that day, that assistant was flirting with another assistant, so when Arshad threw it, I was standing in the wings, it hit me and rivers of blood started flowing.
“So, it’s actually blood relation between us. I have never let Arshad forget it and he still squirms about that story. Whenever I get the opportunity to do a film with Arshad, I do it just for the joy of being an actor to act with such a wonderful guy and also share time off-screen as he has such a good sense of humour.”
The Legend of Michael Mishra, also starring Aditi Rao Hydari, will release on August 5.
‘I stay away from adult comedies’
Arshad Warsi, who is known for his comic timing, says he chose to stay away from adult comedies as he doesn’t like adult comedies. Is it a conscious decision to stay away from adult comedies?
“Yes, absolutely. I consciously stay away from adult comedies. I do not like double meaning, X-Rated kind of comedy. I have nothing against people who do it,” Arshad, told the media.
“When I saw ‘Grand Masti’… Indra Kumar showed it to me. I told him: ‘Your film is a super hit, but I can’t be doing it no matter how big it can be. I can’t be part of it’,” he added. The actor has his “personal reasons”.
“Today, you have the internet. I don’t want my kids to ever Google me and see me doing something like that. It’s just that. Money is not everything. A bit of self-respect means a lot to me,” he said. When asked about losing his audience he said, “If I would have my audience, I would have been a big star by now. But I am not. It’s not that I have some great audience.”
