Mehra elated to have Kailash Satyarthi join his Mumbai screening of docu on Nobel winner 
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; August 9, 2019)

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is counting the days to his special screening of the Emmy-nominated documentary on Kailash Satyarthi, The Price Of Free. The documentary, which follows the Nobel laureate and his team’s journey as they rescue children caught in the web of trafficking, will be screened at a suburban venue on August 11, thus marking the fifth year of his Nobel Peace Prize win. What makes it all the more special is that the children’s activist and his family will join the filmmaker at the do.

“He is my real life hero,” says Mehra, adding that no words of praise can do justice to Satyarthi’s continuous efforts towards the welfare of children. “Everybody knows that he is the guiding light for social change. To me, he is a father figure. I invited him to Mumbai through a common friend and I am honoured that he accepted the invitation. He will fly down to Mumbai tomorrow. After the screening, one can talk to him and be inspired to be part of the change.”

He is reluctant to talk about the guest list — buzz is that several stars, including Aamir Khan, Farhan Akhtar and Anil Kapoor, have been invited to the soiree. “It’s an intimate guest list of 35 people from Bollywood and other walks of life. I will be watching the film here for the first time, sitting beside him.”

BOMBAY TIMES (September 2, 2018)

Trust National Award-winning filmmaker Brahmanand S Siingh to leave no stone unturned when backing a project that has the potential to impact lives. The recent one being Jhalki, that stars Boman Irani, Sanjay Suri, Divya Dutta, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Govind Namdev, Joy Sengupta and Akhilendra Mishra among others.

Siingh, who is known for his award-winning documentaries like Pancham Unmixed and Kaagaz Ki Kashti, is making his feature film debut with Jhalki, which tells the story of a brave girl who sets out in search of her brother. The storyline was developed by Prakash Jha and the film has been co-directed by Tanvi Jain.

The story of the film is inspired by the exemplary work that Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi has been doing. After watching the film, Satyarthi said, “Jhalki is a reflection of optimism, hope and resilience, which are much needed today. I’m moved and inspired by the little girl’s courage and the way she fearlessly navigates the real world.” Siingh, who is planning to release the film early next year, shares, “I am very grateful to Kailash ji for his unwavering support. At the same time, I must emphatically clarify that it is not a biopic on Kailash Satyarthi, the way it has been reported.”

When asked about his future plans, he adds, “At Mobius Films, we have some powerful feature films, almost ready to go on floors. In addition, is a vision of an ambitious series of biographical films, which will be like a prized national archive of our heritage and legacy.”

Jhalki: Tale Of A Tireless Sparrow, is produced by Mobius Films & OMG, with Aanand Chavan, and co-produced by Vinayak Gawande and Jayesh Parekh. The film releases in India in February 2019.

Having spent the past two years working in regional films, Boman Irani, who recently featured in Welcome To New York, chronicles his toil of acing dialects
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; March 4, 2018)

The distinctiveness with which he approaches his craft is made evident when Boman Irani responds to our questions of aping the mannerisms and physicality of Kailash Satyarthi with a pithy, "That's just secondary". Instead of studying the superficial, he dug deeper to unearth three distinct personalities of the Nobel Peace Prize recipient. "He wears a cape and becomes a crusader when he's rescuing children - tough and brave as he walks into factories and liberates them from labour," Irani says, his voice mirroring the valour that Satyarthi would have portrayed during such endeavours. In the company of children, the child rights activist becomes one among them, says the actor, adding that the third facet to his personality emerges when he addresses the world on international podiums. "He's a statesman, a world president when he joins the likes of Malala [Yousafzai, activist] to address people."

Irani, set to play Satyarthi in an upcoming venture, may have met the activist umpteen times to have noticed such nitty gritties, one might assume. But an interaction with the man, he reveals, is still pending. "I've binge-watched over 100 videos of him to arrive at the conclusion. These three personalities rolled into one is what makes him Kailash Satyarthi. He is someone everybody should know about," prides Irani, quick to add that Jhalki, as the film's name suggests, will see only a few glimpses of him. "I have a small role. The protagonist of the film is a young girl. It chronicles her story."

As fans await his performance in the long-in-the-making film, Irani recently charmed them in Welcome To New York as the organiser of a coveted awards gala, reeling with the constant hiccups of managing a live event. But, it was only after a significant hiatus of two years that cinephiles could enjoy the wit of the actor, whose last Bollywood film was the 2016 Housefull 3. In the interim, he humoured his fans in the South with a series of Marathi and Telugu outings, including Priyanka Chopra's production, Ventilator. Irani talks about his regional projects with a fervour that's unparalleled. The kind his directors harbour when chasing him to sign on the dotted line. "It's easy to understand if someone following up with you for a project is genuinely interested in roping you or not," he says.

While some may despise it, he enjoys the unpredictable atmosphere of an unfamiliar set. "It keeps you on your toes," he says, adding, "Working with a new crew in a different language is exciting. It takes you into a zone that you are not familiar with, and that's positive. You approach cinema differently, which is good for an actor's growth; it keeps you awake." Much at odds with popular notion, a stint in a smaller industry doesn't imply less work for the actor, who is painfully particular about nabbing the pronunciation of a new language. "When you speak in a language that's not yours, you must treat it with respect. If you don't, you're just mouthing lines, and the cast and crew can notice that you're not paying heed to their language. When I learn my lines, I do so in English. I'll act it out in English so that I understand the subtext and scene. I'll do so again in Hindi, and then finally in the language of the film. This way, I have a better understanding of the lines I'm saying, not only because I've rehearsed it enough, but also because I understand the subtext of every line. You need to be phonetically correct when speaking a new language." In his tryst to do so, Irani ensures that his work for the film doesn't end on set. He spends several hours with his directors working on his speech after the shoot wraps up. "They drive home with me, and may even come to my room after a late schedule for a meal. We continue to understand what is being said. Only when you do so will the audience respect you."

It is owing to this immense effort that goes into creating a cinematic outing worthy of people's time that the actor is critical of the furor caused by fringe groups ahead of the release of a film. With Welcome To New York having found itself in the eye of the storm over the inclusion of Pak singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's voice, and later for the lyrics of a track crooned by leading man Diljit Dosanjh, Irani says the trend to create controversy before a film's release is, unfortunately, becoming commonplace. "It's become part and parcel of the release. It's not a good trend, but it is happening. The producers work hard to meet deadlines, and such incidents put their toil to waste. Producers need to accommodate time and energy towards sorting these things too. Nowadays, every film seems to have a problem."

While his contemporaries are actively giving a go at digital ventures, Boman Irani isn't hurried to get onto streaming services. The offers have been pouring in every day, he says, but none of them have him "excited enough". But what may interest him need not necessarily be something that carries a social message. "Sometime, you can't be picky about good subjects because, let's be honest, great subjects are far and few. Some films purely entertain. People need it. If you remove entertainment from people's lives, you'll have an unhappy society. What I look for is a subject that can simply keep me excited. Also, you need to enjoy working with those associated with the film. A set has to be a happy place. As far as the web is concerned, I want my first project to be the right one. Else people will say, 'It didn't work out for him in this space.'"

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; September 4, 2017)

Vivek Oberoi has been an active propagator of several social causes, including those that focus on the girl child. In his latest endeavour, the actor is set to join hands with Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi to spread awareness about child abuse with a nation-wide march.

The actor tells mid-day, “It takes a great deal of dedication to bring about change in the society. We should support the causes of child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, assault and trafficking. I’m grateful to Kailash Satyarthi for inviting me, and giving me the opportunity to be part of this noble cause.”

The duo will kick off the march on September 11 in Guwahati as part of the Bharat Yatra campaign, and will cover 11,000 kms to culminate it in Delhi on October 11. In an earlier interview, Satyarthi had expressed his concern for abused children, stating, “There is a sense of fear around child sexual abuse. How can we make a ‘New India’ if we are still driven by fear of reporting crimes against our children?”

Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; June 11, 2017)

"Even if he hadn’t won the Nobel Prize, we should know who he is. When I tell people I am going to be playing Kailash Satyarthi in Jhalki, they ask ‘who is that?’” cringes actor Boman Irani, “It’s embarrassing.” In the film, Irani portrays the2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner who was lauded for his campaign against child labour and protection of their right to education.

Jhalki, which is being directed by Brahmanand Siingh, is a work of fiction that follows a girl in search of her younger brother, who was sold as bonded labourer. Boman, as Satyarthi, helps him escape. Speaking of the activist, Irani says, “He is a crusader, and the way he approaches his mission is amazing — he has freed almost 87,000 children, and says he won’t stop till all children are free. If you are on YouTube watching something, make it something worthwhile and watch his speeches.”

It could be the case of life imitating art but 5 halki’s premise of saving children at risk also holds close to the 57-year-old’s heart. When he is not working, Irani plays mentor at the Don Bosco Shelter Home for Children at Risk, that houses kids rescued from the streets where they are susceptible to a life of drugs and crime. “I help them find some confidence. They all want to be working members of society. They used to be angrier, now they are more focused. They have ambitions, like becoming a DJ, being in the IT sector or theatre. These are all achievable goals too.”

Along with mentoring, Irani has also been instrumental in raising funds for the school. “Recently, a bunch of kids came here from Itarsi. It was the first time they had seen the sea. I was not an actor to them, just a person who was talking to them. This gives me a lot of calmness and joy,” he says, and then adds, “Even just a line of encouragement can change a life.”

Irani, who is known for his iconic roles in Munnabhai MBBS and Khosla Ka Ghosla among many others, is not one to rest on his laurels. He is working on two more projects, one of which is a John Abraham production. Parmanu, revolves around the 1998 Pokhran blasts. “I play a bureaucrat. If you are asking me how it altered my view on the nuclear blasts, I have one primary question: Should anyone in the world have ever made a nuclear weapon? That’s the first and most important question. But since that is the case, I now feel that it’s a response to being bullied. That’s what I got out of that character.”

He is also doing a bit role in Rajkumar Hirani’s Dutt, a biopic on Sanjay Dutt’s life. And even though he can’t tell us what the role is, he seems excited about it. “Raju called and said, ‘you have to be a part of this story’. I said, write me in, get my mug there.”

On the surface of it, all movies that he is involved in now seem to have political or social relevance, and when asked if that is a conscious decision, he shrugs. “I think all my movies shouldn’t be the same, so I do make it a point to do different kinds of films. But yes, right now, they are socially relevant…” he pauses and then says, “I like the idea of movies making a difference, but, at the end of the day, a person does need to be entertained. The guy on the street wants to go to the movies with his family and have a good time. That’s why I make it a point to do a fun movie. As an actor, I am an entertainer, and we should really not take everything so seriously. It’s okay if a few movies do not have a message to impart.”

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 7, 2017)

After his doctor turn in Rajesh Mapuskar’s Marathi film Ventilator, Boman Irani is set to play Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi in National Award-winning filmmaker Brahmanand Siingh’s next, titled Jhalki. “It’s a film about a little girl looking for her brother who is missing, while working as a child labourer. I canned my portions in a few days. Kailash Satyarthi is a person every Indian should be in awe of. I shot at Mirzapur, it was 47 degrees. It’s a wonderful realisation to go there and understand the problems people in different parts of the country go through,” Boman shared with Mirror.

While he barely had time before he dived into his role, Boman maintains that portraying the character isn’t all about imitating Satyarthi’s voice or his way of speaking. “It’s about understanding his beautiful way with children. He is so fearless while carrying out rescue operations. At the same time, with the kids, he was like a child himself. You take the spirit of the person instead of resorting to mimicry. Watching him with (Pakistani activist) Malala Yousafzai (they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together in 2014), seeing them refer to each other like they were a father-daughter duo was humbling,” Boman adds, admitting that he hasn’t met Satyarthi yet but he had his director promise him to arrange a meeting.

For the uninitiated, Kailash Satyarthi is a child’s rights and education advocate and an activist against child labour. He founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan in 1980 and has worked towards protecting the rights of more than 83,000 children from 144 countries.