Ace actor Boman Irani has recently turned director and his film The Mehta Boys, which he has also produced and co-written along with Oscar-winning writer Alexander Dinelaris Jr of Birdman fame, is already winning hearts and awards. The film, starring Irani and Avinash Tiwary as a father-so duo, was premiered at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival on September 20 and has just picked up South Asian Film Association award. We caught up with the newly minted director for an elaborate chat: 

Tell us about the decision to turn a director. Was it the craving for more creative liberty?  

Ever since I was a little kid, I've wanted to make a movie. I've always been in love with the craft. The idea of telling stories, the idea of music, the idea of the camera and the way it moves, performances, the drama—these things excite me, and they've excited me ever since my mother introduced me to the world of movies as a child. Cinema has been a calling since then. I think it is just that everything in my life takes a little more time than everybody else's. 

How did the idea of The Mehta Boys come to you? 

Mehta Boys started as a one-liner from Sujoy Ghosh. Once I was ill and he had come to my house. After discussing a few ideas that he wanted me to act in, he narrated this one-line story about a father and a son. The moment he told me about the closing scene of the film, I told him that I wanted to do it—but as a director! And just like that, he gave me his idea to work on. And I will be utterly grateful to him for the rest of my life for this. I lived with it, I stayed with it, I developed the idea in my mind, and slowly wrote it over the years.

You are co-writing this with Oscar-winning screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris of Birdman fame. How did the collaboration happen and how was the process?  

I met Alex in New York. I was looking for a collaborator and had met many writers, including a few Oscar-winning ones. Although there were quite a few who were willing to work on this, Alex and I hit it off the moment we met, we connected on a personal level and became like brothers. He gave me a few tips, but the project didn’t really take off.  Then he went and won an Oscar which meant he got even busier. But strangely, we became even close post that. We would keep writing a few scenes and share sporadically. This went on for a couple of years. Eventually, all those have led to the moment we are ready with a film.  

What is the biggest challenge for an actor-turned-director and what is the biggest advantage? 

Because I was afraid that I was going to be acting and directing, I made sure that we rehearsed. We had a three-week rehearsal process and then we visited every location and did all the camera work, including the angles and the shot breakdown, way in advance. So, when you get onto the set, all you're doing is concentrating only on the performance. Because I can't be sitting in the makeup van and someone, the associate director comes and asks me where to place the camera, etc. It was all decided weeks in advance. The stress of an actor to be doing these things together was hugely taken care of because every single word in in the screenplay was accounted for. Every stage direction was accounted for. Then, of course, you've got to improvise and be spontaneous and all of that. It also helped that I had a great team. Sakshi Mehta was the associate. My production team, which includes my son, Danish (Irani), Ankita Batra, Vikesh Bhutani, and of course, the director of photography, Krish Makhija, helped it go smoothly. You can't be saying this is what I wanted to do all my life and make the whole experience stressful.  

Do you think your initial days as a sports photographer would help you in this endeavour in any way? 

This is a wonderful question about me being a sports photographer and for that matter, I did 14 years of advertising also, including sports photography in my early days and then graduated into advertising and portrait photography and street photography. So, in many ways, everything that I've done, which includes me sitting at a wafer shop, was helping me understand characters that walked into the shop. Photography made me understand framing and how a frame, a photograph can have an emotion and evoke a feeling. My experience as a theatre actor helped me understand performance discipline and drama. Then I made some ad films, which helped me understand the camera movement and blocking. And as an actor over the years, I have realised how important it is to understand a script because an actor should understand the written words before he can even start emoting. Before he can even start putting his voice to those words, he needs to understand what the maksad of each scene is.

How does it feel to make a directorial debut after Kayoze’s? Who is giving creative input to who now! 

Kayoze started shooting before me! I told you that I take my own sweet time to do everything. As long as I'm enjoying myself, it doesn't matter how long it takes. Kayoze knows about so many things, and because he's assisted for so many years, which I haven't unfortunately, he has lovely little nuggets to share especially during the writing process. Danesh, my older son, was a producer on the film. Danesh and Kayoze both have been right and left hand. And my wife is waving out to me and saying, that's a lovely little answer that you gave. (laughs) 

Tell us something about Irani Movietone. What is your vision for the production house?  

Irani Movietone has everything to do with what I stand for, everything that's in a way, modern and old-fashioned. If you see the logo, it's almost like a logo out of the thirties or the forties. Movietone is the kind of title that was with Saurabh Modi's company, the Wadia Movietone. It just has an old-world feeling. Danesh [his elder son Danesh Irani] is handling the company. While there's a whole bunch of ad films in between while I'm scouting and prepping for the next film or a whole slate of films, hopefully.  

At Irani Movietone we want to concentrate hugely on the writing process. Just getting a story idea is not good enough, the story has to convert itself into a great screenplay, because the story needs to be told within two hours. As Billy Wilder said: “You don't shoot out of a telephone directory. You shoot out of a script”. It is sacred.

Do you think cinema should mirror society or show the mirror? What is your kind of cinema?  

I think everything is kosher— all kinds of cinema, all kinds of work. It’s like food: somebody might like French cuisine, somebody might prefer sushi, someone might enjoy afternoon tea, and others might savour street food. You must ensure that cinema and entertainment are not just for your taste; they should be for everybody, and everyone should resonate with them.  

My mother taught me that you aren’t given the gift of talent to gratify yourself; that talent should also be used to make others happy. While there are some films where I might say I grew as an actor, there are others where I think, I did this because there’s a certain audience that enjoys that kind of character. 

However, cinema acts as a mirror to society. It reflects who we are. In a sense, popular cinema embodies what we truly enjoy watching and experiencing. I’m using a word I don’t particularly like here— ‘consume’—but there is a kind of consumption for different purposes: whether it’s for entertainment, to tickle your funny bone, or to provoke you emotionally or intellectually. It truly reflects who we are. You might ask, do we do song and dance? Yes, we do—at weddings, we certainly do. 

Any plan of returning to the stage?  

Of course, I'll return to the stage. And there's no question about it. But right now, I'm truly interested in hopefully making my second film, making, you know, producing a whole bunch of films for Irani Movietone and being a producer, being a director. And most importantly, the thing that I'm enjoying the most, I'm basking in that new little discovery of being a writer. And, let me enjoy this period before I make the full circle. 

Boman Irani’s Top 5  

What makes them special for me, is the memory that goes with it. Discovery—exploring what you could do emotionally, culturally, and even technique-wise—is the word is the keyword in each and every one of these characters. 

Well Done Abba (2009): It was directed by the great, Shyam Benegal and it changed my way of doing a lot of things as an actor. 

Let’s Talk (2002): I'm grateful to Ram Madhvani. That memory was amazing 

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003):  I am grateful to Rajkumar Hirani and Vinod Chopra for trusting me with Dr JC Asthana. It was a huge character and should've gone to a stalwart rather than a newcomer like me. It was in many ways a debut for me. 

Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006): I discovered myself as a better actor with this one; it broadened my range. Playing Kishan Khurana made me realise that one could if one puts one's mind to it and determined to, play a character that probably is not close to the pole, different culturally from someone that you've ever met or experienced language-wise and behaviour-wise. 

Uunchai: It was directed by Sooraj Barjatya and it was absolutely great to be part of an ensemble cast that included actors, stalwarts really, like Danny Saab, Kher Saab, Sarika ji, Neena ji, and, of course, the legend himself, Mister Bachchan. It was actually so empowering to know that you're you are considered in the same breath as these actors. 

Favourite Filmmakers (for their stylistic signature) 

Billy Wilder: Ever since I was a kid, I used to watch his movies and love the way he told stories with humour. Sometimes the subjects would be very dark and sometimes it would be out-and-out comedies—but there was a stylistic approach in all his works. I can't stress enough how much his work has impacted my way of thinking, especially in the early days,  

Steven Spielberg: He knows how to make art and make it commercial at the same time. When you look at the craft–the way his camera moves or the way the camera draws you into something OR makes you feel something–he is unabashedly commercial. If you look at movies like ET or Jaws they are very commercial. But then he does a Schindler's List or something as sci-fi as Close Encounters of the Third Kind. There is a stylistic approach, which has a stamp, that makes him create some of the greatest moments. I think he reaches out to a larger audience, and he does it with a lot of style and a lot of craft. 

Frank Capra: He tells stories of the people. In many ways, another gentleman who I'd like to add to this list, is my dear friend, Raju Hirani. They understand people—not only how they feel as simple people, but what they consume as simple feeling people who want good, clean cinema.  

David Fincher is one who I admire usually. I love his stylistic approach to his work. It's not just about how you razzle and dazzle with camera movements. It's how he uses the camera to make you have an immersive experience.