The Hallmark of a Specialist

Housefull 3 has raised a lot of laughter, giggles and smiles largely on account of some very edgy, offbeat dialogue writing. Those with an “evolved” sense of humour may find the jokes quite inane but do remember, the Housefull series is predominantly about out-of-the-box quirkiness – and the jokes have to be taken in the same spirit.

Boman Irani playing Batook Patel, the father of Jacqueline Fernandez, Nargis Fakhri and Lisa Haydon, gets every little detail right – the Gujju accent, the strange mannerisms, the delightfully goofy expressions and the overall comic timing of the role. Akshay Kumar points out that one of the funniest dialogues in the movie comes alive not just because of good scriptwriting but also brilliant delivery by Boman. It’s a line spoken by Batook Patel when he meets his three prospective sons-in-law, who are pretending to be dumb, blind and paralysed respectively. In his inimitable style, Boman observes that his daughters have selected very strange grooms – one who has no talktime, one with a defective iPhone and the third with no balance. The wordplay on the double meanings related to everyday telecom terms is rendered funnier by Boman who jerks the dialogue out in a mildly jeering manner that fits perfectly with the essence of Batook Patel’s persona.

This ability to juggle personalities, characters, quirks and temperaments is the hallmark of a specialist… and without doubt, Boman Irani is the consummate specialist when it comes to acting. He has this innate ability to focus single-mindedly on a character till he gets under the skin of that character and becomes the character (instead of being Boman Irani). In doing so, he is able to evoke an amazing degree of credibility. The audience actually starts believing that he is an evil psychopath (Vardaan of Don 2), an irritable college principal (Professor Virus of 3 Idiots), an ill-tempered, obstinate medical college dean (Dr Asthana in Munna Bhai MBBS) and a longhaired, middle-aged romantic (Oscar Fernandez in Honeymoon Travels). That’s the power of the Specialist!

It is this same overpowering sense of credibility that makes Boman Irani the perfect brand ambassador for P Mark Mustard Oil which prides itself on being ‘The Mustard Specialist’. The very first television commercial the brand shot with Boman Irani has a simple, straightforward story. A young housewife in a departmental store looks at the mind-boggling variety of edible oils on display… some made in USA, some made in Malaysia and some in Spain. At this point Boman Irani pops up and asks: Made in India kyun nahin? He hands her a bottle of P Mark Mustard Oil. Reacting like a typical young generation customer, she tells Boman “Mustard Oil? No thank you Dadaji!”

Momentarily miffed by the ‘Dadaji’ taunt, Boman explains that P Mark has indeed been around since her Dadaji’s time. This grabs her attention. Boman tells her more about the brand, its health benefits, the national and international quality awards it has received, and so on. Eventually, she buys P Mark – leading Boman to playfully taunt her with the words: “Changed your mind, Dadiji?”

A simple storyline – no twists, no intrigue, no punch line… and yet, the film comes alive because of Boman Irani’s acting. That’s the hallmark of a specialist!