Actor Boman Irani's mother, Jerbanoo Irani, passed away on Wednesday morning due to age related illness at their residence here. She was 94. Calling her 'Mother Irani', the 61-year-old actor said she played the role of "both mother and father to me, since she was 32". Jerbanoo also took over the family shop after her husband's passing, six months before Boman's birth in December 1959."What a spirit she was. Filled with funny stories that only she could tell. The longest arm that always dug deep into her pockets, even when there wasn't much there," Boman wrote alongside her photo.
The actor often credited his mother for encouraging him to watch movies when he was young. Boman said his mother was passionate about food and songs. "When she sent me to the movies, she made sure all the compound kids came with me. 'Don't forget the popcorn' she would say." She loved her food and her songs and she could fact-check Wikipedia and IMDb in a flash. Sharp, sharp, sharp, till the very end," he wrote. The actor-writer recalled how his mother would remind him that his primary goal as an actor was to spread joy, not to bask in the glory. "She always said 'You are not an actor for people to praise you. You are an actor only so you can make people smile. Make people happy,' she said. "Last night she asked for Malai Kulfi and some mango. She could have asked for the moon and the stars if she wished. She was, and always will be A Star," he added. Boman Irani made his Bollywood debut with the 2003 anthology horror film Darna Mana Hai. However, it was the success of Munna Bhai MBBS, which released in the same year, that made him an overnight star. He will next be seen in Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone's 83 and Ajay Devgn, Amitabh Bachchan and Rakul Preet Singh-starrer MayDay.