WATCH! EXCLUSIVE | Boman Irani on The Mehta Boys: ‘There is jealousy in the father-son relationship, but with my son…’ | Not Just Bollywood

Boman Irani and the cast of The Mehta Boys talks about how the father-son relationship is laced with ego. In an interview with Firstpost, he makes it clear that there is huge male ego when a father realises that the son is no longer asking for advice from him especially when those wisps of moustache come and he’s on his way to becoming a man.

The Mehta Boys after being shown in several film festivals, will be released on Amazon Prime Video. An intensely complex film where Boman Irani is the actor, director and also the script writer. Playing so many roles, Boman believes that writing is the real hero of the movie.

WATCH the video of the interview here:

Edited excerpts from the film:

 What made you come up with this idea?

Boman Irani: I liked the story idea, it’s what you get attracted to. The hardest work was on the writing process because that takes time because it is a very exact art and a very exact process. If the writing is right, everything works out well and then you may not even need the director. I never met my father, my father died six months before I was born. But I’m a father and I have two sons so I never had that perspective but I have this perspective. My relationship with my son is not at all dark. The day I learned how to deal with my five-year old son, he was seven. There’s a monologue in the film which is more or less on the same line.

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Trouble starts when the little wisps of moustache come and he’s on his way to becoming a man, and maybe he doesn’t need a father as much as he used to. There’s a scene I have with Shreya where we are sitting in a bar and talking where he starts pushing him where it matters because now we’re going to prepare you to be a man of the world so he’s contradicting himself. It’s a flashback where they were teasing the mother instead.

Avinash , do you have these ego struggles or kind of cold wars with your father or your parents?

Avinash: I never had any wars but there can be conflicts and disagreements. I never allowed myself to disagree with him even though I disagreed with him. That kind of creates a repressed situation for you as a person not necessarily with your father. But ego is something that can come up with any person, it could be with your co-actors. The one sitting next to me has a huge amount of ego (laughs and refers to Shreya Chaudhary). This is something that can happen in any relationship that one has to deal with which is what this film does very well. It tells you the story of a father and a son and the insights into a human relationship.

How much do you relate to you role Avinash?

Avinash: I was just thinking of this situation that little minor inconvenience and I would run to my dad and he would create that space where I could tell anything to him. But somewhere in my life, I decided not to. I am turning 40 but until last year, I was staying with my parents. And it can be difficult because there was a long time when I was not working, he was nearing his retirement, and those are difficult situations in a family.

He’s in government services and retiring and his son has really not taken a stand, he would feel a little insecure and I did not know a way out. He would push me and poke me, and that would make me uncomfortable. You have the distance now so you are able to see where he was coming from. Thankfully, we have a film like The Mehta Boys that can give you that insight.

Boman, does this happen in all the families, the jealousy between father and son, mother and daughter?

Boman: There’s rivalry. In the film, the son is an architect, ask him. But he turns around and says ‘People like us won’t understand. Kadiyaa is actually telling the old man ‘Apne bas ki baat nahin hai.’ You’re actually elevating a guy who I’m saying ‘Nikamma hai.’

Avinash adds: My father once said, even if my son is the Prime Minister, he doesn’t let go of the right to hold his ear. But I think this is such a great joy. I value that somebody is there who I can look up to because I am fearless otherwise. These are my blessings.

Shreya, you play a powerful role and a connecting factor also. Are you influenced by somebody in the family or any friends that helped you in playing this role?

Shreya Chaudhary: When I read the script, I understood a lot about Zara through every scene and that’s the genius of the writing. And then I had Boman Irani who was there to hold my hand through every scene. We workshopped thoroughly because Boman was not only directing but acting in it as well. One very beautiful note that he told me was, “All the female characters are empowered, but it is not superficial. It does not have to be laced with aggression. You can be empowered with gentleness. You can be sensitive and have that feminine energy.”

The few people I turned to in my life for inspiration were people like my mother, my grandmothers- My daadi and naani, my sister in law, they all are working women. They are extremely empowered and I have seen them play that bridge between the men in the family and they do that with such grace.

Puja, your role is very impressive. You are actually sandwiched between the father and the brother. What was playing at the back of your mind?

Puja Sarup: The script really did most of the work for me. You are actually like a detective looking for clues in the script. Shreya was talking about grace and I felt Anu (character in The Mehta Boys) didn’t have grace, she didn’t have much time. She’s not getting time to grieve for her mother because the two men in the film are coming with huge mountains of egos.