EXCLUSIVE: Arshad Warsi on being typecast: My career would have ended if I played roles similar to Circuit

Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani are undoubtedly two actors who continue to stand out with their impeccable style and talent. The two recently turned host for Amazone Prime Video’s Lol Hasse Toh Phasse where as many as 10 comedian-actors participated as contestants in a bid to outwit each other. In an exclusive chat with Bollywood Bubble, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani opened up on their camaraderie with each other which dates back to their Munna Bhai days.

The duo also opened up on the fear of getting typecast in Bollywood and what took them to break away from it. Arshad and Boman also shared their views on comedy and its evolution in our country, the relevance of jokes, and misogyny which were a huge part of comedy sketches earlier.

Ask Arshad Warsi if he was ever typecast and how did he deal with it, he said, “You have to accept it. It gets easier when you slot people. It is the way our brain functions. There is nothing, no problem in that, we always slot things. We always do that in our lives, this is done like this, this food tastes better with this. In the course of time, invariably it changes because you are continuously doing your work.

He cited examples of other actors who faced similar stereotypes but eventually broke the mould. “Akshay (Kumar) was an action guy, today he does comedy, he does all these socially relevant films. So, it’s like that, I did comedy, then I did serious films. Boman did comedy, then he did really heart-wrenching serious stuff. So, that’s what an actor does, you try and just do your job, and you will get slotted as time goes by,” Arshad reiterated.

He continued, “Me from a comedy, now suddenly I’m a versatile actor, because I did this, that and the other. The only thing that can convince anybody is your work and nothing else. You telling somebody is not going to convince.”

Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani talk exclusively typecast issues:

 

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Arshad Warsi as Circuit in Munna Bhai received a lot of love. But, the actor revealed that if he continued playing that character in other films, his career would have ended. “After Munna Bhai, how many people must have offered me to play circuit in the film? Every second film I got, they wanted me to play that kind of character. Imagine if I had said yes to them, the amount of money I would have made. My career would have ended in the next three films. I did not do one film that has a character like Circuit, it is only in Munna Bhai and nowhere else. So, you got to make those choices,” Arshad shared.

Boman Irani also shared his side of being typecast, but he feels it is also a personal choice to come out of that box. “After Munna Bhai, everybody wanted me to be a doctor. It’s also what you choose. The greatest thing that I did for myself, was a career choice of taking the role of Khurana in Khosla Ka Ghosla! So, when I played that character, everybody thought, ‘Okay he is not that Parsi boy from South Bombay, who did English theatre.’ It opened up the gates. It is a choice you also make. People would make their assumptions regardless,” Boman concluded.

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