You Are Never Prepared on How To Be a Good Father” Veteran Actors Boman Irani and Gajraj Rao Give Their Take on Fatherhood

 Fatherhood brings its own unique challenges and hardships, and there’s no rulebook to guide you through them. Two of the most esteemed Artists of our entertainment industry Boman Irani and Gajraj Rao share how they managed to do a wonderful job at it on Yuvaa’s, Be A Man, Yaar!

In conversation with Media Entrepreneur and Yuvaa Co-founder Nikhil Taneja, Gajraj Rao explains that people you surround yourself with have a significant impact on your role as a father while praising his friends for being good mentors and fathers to learn from. “Mein khush kismat hu ki dost ache mirrors mujhe mil gaye jinko dekh ke mujhe sikhne milta hain ki family aisi honi chahiye”, expressed Gajraj. 

Boman Irani believes that children watch and learn from you and that being a good father is to set the right example for your kids. “You are never prepared to become a good father, but there are certain guard rails of good parenthood, which are, they will do what you do and not what you tell them to do.” He also added, “Second thing is you have to learn to respect each other as a couple for your children to respect you and finally, there has to be a lot of love in the family. If there is love, everything is taken care of.” 

Both of them believe that showing vulnerability in front of your children and loved ones is a strength and not a weakness. Gajraj emphasises on the fact that your children must know that you’re not a perfect person and you also have flaws. “Aapke bacho ko pata hona chahiye ki unka baat superman nahi hain, go haarta bhi hain toh vo aapse zyada relate kar paayenge.”

He also encourages men to not be afraid to show their emotion be it in front of anyone, “Rone ka Mardaangi se koi Lena Dena nahi hain, agar aapko rona nahi aata hain zaruri nahi hain but agar aa raha hain toh chupke rone ki zaruat nahi hain”. Boman Irani agreed to this saying, “Crying is not a display of weakness, it’s a display of strength, you’re willing to cry in front of your loved ones, usme buri baat kya hain?”

In addition to their real-life roles as fathers, both actors have portrayed various types of fathers on screen. They delve into how they analyse their roles and share their insights on the personalities of their characters. Boman shared how he doesn’t judge his characters and seeks to uncover the humanity within a negative character. He dives into one of the most iconic characters he plays, Virus in 3 idiots “Virus is a horrible guy, but why do people accept because of the hope ki, sudhar jaa”

Gajraj highlights that he makes sure not to make his negative roles likeable and doesn’t try to find the positive qualities of that character. He recalls the antagonist he played in the TV serial ‘Bhanwar’ and how he was openly commended for it by fans at a CR Park, Delhi. “Ye mere liye shocking tha kyuki pehle mujhe aise public acknowledgment nahi mili, vo mere achievement hain ki maine vo character ka positive graph dhundne ki koshish nahi ki, ki acha Aadmi tha bichaara”

The celebrated performers open up about their memories of being boys, Gajraj Rao’s volatile childhood, Boman Irani growing up without a male influence in his family and all the women in his house not letting him feel the absence of his father, their theatre days experience, how cinema was an escape for them, loneliness, judgement and more on the nostalgic final episode of Yuvaa’s Be A Man, Yaar.’