You know the auditorium will echo with laughter and lessons when you have director Rajkumar Hirani and actor Boman Irani together. The duo who treated audiences to Munna Bhai franchise, and 3 Idiots, were in town on Monday for a talk show organised by the Ladies Study Group, titled All izz well. They spoke about their camaraderie, their hits and misses in showbiz and more. Excerpts...

When asked about the defining moment of his life, Boman shared an interesting incident. “When I was eight or nine years old, I met a wonderful artiste who was a family friend and whom I sang for. She told me that I’d performed reasonably well. She also advised me to be unique as there couldn’t be anyone like me. This advice I took really seriously and honoured it. That artiste happens to be Usha Uthup.”

At the event hosted by the Ladies Study Group, Hirani said he wanted to be an engineer and then went on to study chartered accountancy upon his uncle’s advice. “The scene from 3 Idiots where R Madhavan tells his father he wants to be a wildlife photographer, that is one scene out of my life. I gathered the courage and told my father that CA was not my calling and he asked me to join him with his work. I can’t tell you the joy and relief I felt. That’s when I started working with my father in the morning and doing plays in the evening,” Hirani exclaimed.

For Boman Irani, it was his mother who helped him find his passion and empowered him. “My mom really empowered me. I used to struggle with studies and rarely spoke because of a speech problem but I found confidence on stage and my mom sensed this,” said Irani.

“One day we had a customer at her shop and he wanted to know which movie was running in the nearest theatre. My mother asked me to take him to the theatre. This man was blind and my mum told me to narrate the story as the movie played. I can’t express how empowered I felt as a child,” said Boman.

Hirani shared the kind of curriculum he believes in. “Education should be in a particular way, where we let children do what they like. They should be allowed to do things that they are not just passionate about but are also obsessed with.”

Speaking about the need for tenacity, Irani said, “We should hang on to people who chose to do or write what they believe in because such people are rare.” The actor went on to add, “Youngsters today want to be famous yesterday but they should learn not to compromise on their worth.”

He advised people to learn to hang on to the ones who believe in every word they write and portray a character the way they have written it, because they know what they are doing. “Latch onto them because the journey will be worth it and one that you will forever cherish,” the actor concluded.

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'I make funny films but life at home is drama and action. My wife is a pilot. When people ask her to quit, she tells them that she’ll quit the husband, not flying' – Rajkumar Hirani

'All of Raju’s films are personal as they originate from his belief system. He takes years to write a movie. This man believes what he writes is the Bible' – Boman Irani

'Ones who write what they believe in are rare' - Boman Irani