If there was an award for that one Bollywood movie that changed personalities, minds, hearts and the landscape of the Indian film industry, 3 Idiots would be a strong contender.
Spinning around the Indian education system, the 2009 film featured Aamir Khan as the quirky Ranchhoddas Shamaldas Chanchad, who expects to demonstrate that one needs to pursue greatness, and achievement will pursue. He locks horns with the ruthlessly competitive dean of his engineering college, Viru Sahastrabudhe played by actor Boman Irani.
Virus (as the 60-year old is still alluded to) is as far expelled from Boman, all things considered, as it could. Impolite, obtuse, pompous — he is anything but this! "The first scene I shot for 3 Idiots as Virus was in Shimla when my daughter (played by Kareena Kapoor Khan) is getting married. I remember the team had just had a harrowing escape from the blizzard in Leh-Ladakh. I met them, who had come straight from there, pretty shattered when they got off the bus and trucks. Luckily, we were there and broke the tension. Some had cried too. They were rescued by the Army," he says.
In any case, that is after the Virus turned into a changed man. As the first, mean character, he got the chance to play it at IIM Bangalore, where the college scenes were recorded. Uncovers Boman, "Every morning, I would without fail, get dressed in the Velcro shirt, with the hook tie, even if I was not shooting, and walk or cycle around the campus. People didn't recognise me, thought I was a professor.
I would bark and snarl at everybody, them wondering 'Who the hell is this guy?' I would walk into any lecture, the professor would stop talking, thinking maybe I was a new appointee. I would look around the classroom, say 'Carry on' and go. I just wanted to own the place! My character was one who had been there for 20-30 years. One masterstroke was that we all stayed on the campus, in the staff quarters. All the boys — Aamir, Chatur (played by Omi Vaidya) Sharman and Maddy (R. Madhavan) felt part of it."
Boman got recognition upon its release and the film positions among the most noteworthy grosser of Indian film. He says that however, he was anticipating that the film should work, he didn't have a thought regarding the faction status it would accomplish. "I am still surprised by the film. When it had released, we thought it would be a nice film… I realised it had become big when I got calls from people who I hadn't heard from in years, about the film.
I was on a vacation abroad then. And when I came back, we went on a victory tour in four-five cities. We would stand on the terrace of the theatre, and there would be a sea of people on the streets! I never for the life of me thought Virus would capture (attention)," he says humbly.
