Don’t believe in doing initiations as an actor: Boman Irani

Mumbai, Sep 2 (IANS) Actor Boman Irani, who plays Nobel Peace Prize recipient Kailash Satyarthi in his forthcoming film "Jhalki", has said that he doesnt believe in doing imitation as an actor.

Asked how he prepared to play role of Kailash Satyarthi, Boman said: "I saw a lot of his videos on YouTube, but I have learnt one thing. While acting, when you focus more on mannerism, body language, or look of the character, you forget what's going inside his heart. So, I feel working on the mannerism and look of a character is like garnishing or decoration. I feel if I don't talk in Kailash (Satyarthi) ji's voice, it is fine but I have to identify his spirit, world view and intentions while playing his character. So, I don't believe in doing imitations, I feel actors should be able to present character's view point and soul onscreen."

Boman Irani was interacting with the media at the trailer launch of "Jhalki" along with co-actors Sanjay Suri and Divya Dutta, besides the film's directors Brahmanand Singh and Tanvi Jain on Monday in Mumbai.

Satyarthi is the founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Global March Against Child Labour, Global Campaign for Education, Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation, and Rugmark now known as GoodWeave International. His team at Bachpan Bachao Andolan have liberated more than 88,000 children in India from child labour, slavery and trafficking.

Adding further Boman said: "I have seen three sides of Kailash ji in his videos. He acts like a Batman when he rescues children from child labour activities; it looks like an action-thriller film. When he talks with children, it looks like he is a child himself. When he explains his world view among public and media, when he inspires them, he looks like a different person altogether so, he has three great faces. I feel that I am not that good actor but I have tried to imitate him as much as possible but I didn't want to miss his soul while playing him onscreen."

It is not every day that you find a Hindi film that is backed by a Nobel laureate. Kailash Satyarthi's support for Brahmanand Singh and Tanvi Jain's upcoming Jhalki (2019) stems from the touching and simple context of the film's protagonists, two children. The story of a 9-year-old girl setting out in search of her 7-year-old brother is set to release in theatres on 27 September 2019.

Boman Irani said that he doesn't dislike commercial cinema and believes as an actor he tries to balance movies- doing some for running his house and some for serving his creative appetite. "I don't knock commercial cinema. It's very important that people should go to the cinema, have a good time, a good laugh. Without commercial cinema I feel we may not be able to make smaller movies. This ('Jhalki') isn't a small movie, it's a big movie because the impact it needs to make, it will make," said Boman.