A fan gets a jadu ki jhappi from Boman Irani during the interactive session at Eduquest. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

An hour of laughter, entertainment and some jadu ki jhappis — that was what actor Boman Irani’s talk at Anandabazar Patrika Eduquest was all about.

Coming to Netaji Indoor Stadium straight from a promotional for his just-released Ferrari ki Sawaari, the actor bowled over students, professionals and parents alike with his tale of love, struggle, disappointments, passion and success.

“Let’s make this place a second Eden Gardens. I want to see the kind of energy you display at the cricket grounds,” was Boman’s opening line. The audience didn’t disappoint as the actor’s ready wit had them in splits.

Boman, whose Bollywood breakthrough came with the role of Dr J.C. Asthana in the 2003 comedy Munnabhai M.B.B.S., had been a waiter, a wafer shop owner and a photographer before he took to acting. He was in his 40s when he got his first Bollywood offer. “Everybody has some talent in them. The trick is to find your talent,” he said, adding how many of his friends were jealous of him as he got to work with some of the most beautiful women in the country. “Yes, I get to play their dad. But then daddy always gets the tightest hug,” said Boman, ready with a warm a hug for fans too.

Dyslexic as a child, Boman admitted to having been an ordinary student. “I had a speech defect and suffered from attention deficiency. Everybody used to call me a ‘duffer’. But I knew I would prove them all wrong one day. Later one of my sons turned out to be dyslexic too and we used to celebrate whenever he got 45 per cent in maths,” said the actor.

After completing his formal education, Boman took up a job as a waiter at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel. He remembered how he had served his family too at times. A few years later he also worked at the family wafer shop but nothing could stop him from studying and writing when he was not working. He would watch films and write reviews too. “I was a self-taught student of cinema and photography during that period,” the actor said.

Boman met the most beautiful woman of his life — his mother-in-law — at 25. Married at 25 and a father by 26, Boman spent time working at the shop and as a part-time sports photographer. “I would often cover school cricket tournaments at the Gymkhana grounds in Mumbai and sell the snaps of performers to parents for Rs 25,” he said.

It was not until he was 32 that Boman decided to follow his passion — photography — seriously. Three pictures of Norwegian boxing champions at a tournament in Mumbai brought him his first pot of gold. “The Norwegian coach asked me how much I would charge. I had no idea but I cleverly covered up my ignorance by requesting payment according to international rates,” laughed the comedian. Boman was not only paid $900 for the three photographs but the amount every time the photographs were used somewhere. “I learnt work ethics from people in Scandinavia,” the actor said.

Dancer and choreographer Shiamak Davar introduced Boman to theatre person Alyque Padamsee. “I know a talent when I see it and you have none,” Padamsee had said at his first audition for a play. But the theatre veteran soon turned mentor to Boman, paving the way for many of his stage performances. “My second play, I Am Not Bajirao, ran for 10 houseful years,” Boman recounted. Then came, Munnabhai. Vidhu Vinod Chopra had approached Boman for the role even before the project had taken off. Three months later he began shooting, finishing his job in 14 days. The film released and Bollywood embraced him.

“Since then, I have worked in good films and some rubbish too. But then you learn from your mistakes,” the actor said, throwing the house open for an interactive session and some free hugs, Munnabhai style.