I'm proud of playing Sikh in 'Lage Raho Munnabhai:Boman Irani

New Delhi, Oct 8: Being part of a venture that has led the vanguard in setting off resurgence in Gandhian ideals in India would be a matter of pride for any actor.

A much-too similar feeling seems to be going through the mind of actor Boman Irani as he reminisces about his experience of working in Rajkumar Hirani's 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', which has renewed focus on the Gandhian philosophy of truth and non-violence 'Satyagraha,' making them the new anthems of the generation next in the country.

''I have always felt that the first and foremost purpose of cinema is to provide entertainment and if in the process of entertaining the audience, it also gives a message, nothing is better like it. In this context, it makes one feel nice to see that a film that you have been a part of has brought home to the audience the relevance of Gandhiji's ideals in modern times,''Boman Irani told UNI here.

Boman says it was the tremendous impact that the film has had not only in India but also in foreign countries led those associated with the film to decide on sending the film to the Oscars as an independent entry, after it was pipped by 'Rang De Basanti' as India's nominee to the prestigious awards in the Best foreign Film category.

''The writer of 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' Abhijeet Joshi happened to meet a professor in the US who told him that the film had made a tremendous impact on him. He also revealed that there was a lot of interest among people in the US for the film.

The tremendous global response, coupled with the huge fan mail received for the film, led all of us to sent the film as an independent entry for the Oscars. Whether or not the film eventually wins the Oscar, we felt that we should at least give it a shot.

Let's see what happens,''said Boman, who was here for a show 'Perspectives on Life in just 59 minutes with Boman Irani' organized by the ABN-AMRO bank.

For Boman, however, the experience of working in 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' has been a memorable one for more reasons that merely its exposition of Gandhiji's ideals. For the film he had played a Sikh for the first time.

Boman plays Lucky Singh, a ruthless builder with a soft corner somewhere deep in his heart which the protagonist Munnabhai manages to tap by using the Gandhian philosophy of peaceful satyagraha.

A meticulous actor that he is, Boman met several Sikh transporters in order to get into the skin of the character.

''Researching for the character of Lucky Singh gave me an opportunity to meet people from the Sikh community. Meeting them was a heart-warming experience as I found these people extremely 'jokey' (with a good sense of humour), 'sensitive' and full of warmth. For example, I had to often drink as many as 50 cups of tea a day as they would not take no for an answer,''Boman said.

Boman said most of the 'sardars' he met lamented the fact that most Sikhs in Bollywood films were just presented as stereotyped comical characters. ''So I decided that to give it a more 'believable' feel, the character of Lucky Singh would have to cry, something which the director Raju Hirani agreed on,''he says.

''Looking back, I'd say I am proud of having played a Sardar in 'Lage Raho Munnabhai',''he says. Boman said as an actor, one had to put together all of one's experiences with different people and draw various reference points from them to evolve the particular character in the film.

''For example, for 20 minutes of lecture by Dr Asthana in 'Munnabhai MBBS', I attended lectures by several professors to draw the reference points for the character,''he said.

Boman said as an actor, he had never charted out a course for his career.

''If it were so, I'd not have been where I am right now. If feel if something has to happen in life, it will. If one has it in him to be a good actor and do good work, it will come to him sooner or later,''he says.

Stating that acting in films gave him a 'high', Boman said,''for me the industry is a wonderful place to be in. For, being an actor allows you to get to know people from all walks of life in course of your research for the character.'' ''As long as I continue to get new challenges as an actor, I will keep on doing films. However, the day I cease to find my job challenging, I will quit,''he says.

UNI