The intellectual actor ft. Delnaz Irani

[00:00:00] Ladies, gentlemen and others, today's episode is something I'm super excited for because I feel like we have one of those early 2000s when I was growing up. I'm a millennial,

[00:00:09] I'm not Gen Z. I can't expect sweet two sitting in front of me. I know that she's done a lot of really good work but clearly that role is my favourite. I have so many questions

[00:00:20] for you and I'm bursting with them in my mind. So Delnaz Irani, welcome to my podcast. Thank you, Aanam. Thank you so much. I have so many questions for you but I have to start out with asking you, is it a good

[00:00:34] or a bad thing when you and your family work in the same line of business? Like everything has pros and cons, Aanam. This is also something that is good and not so good but I think more good because when you're working together, when you understand

[00:00:53] the business, you understand each other better. You know the timings, we're all in the same field mostly. The lifestyle is easier to... Yeah. So my brother, my bhabhi and now Percy, he's into music so he's not like on camera, on camera but... Still in entertainment.

[00:01:16] Entertainment. So it's like he also understands my timings, he understands where I come from. The entire thing that you know, kabhi late ho gaya, kabhi shoot ke timings kuch hai, kya hai, bhaag na hai, kabhi 24 hours shoot karna hai. So he's not the kinds who would say that

[00:01:37] what is happening, why are you doing this? He also understands the business. He also understands this is what it is, this is my work and I enjoy it this way. That must be a struggle to have people in your life understand. Like I can speak for myself,

[00:01:51] making videos for the internet in itself. It's a weird dish job because it's still very new and people are adapting to it but did you have people in your life growing up that took

[00:02:01] to what you were doing or was there ever like oh wait but like what's going on? See apprehensions are always there, you know. I for one also was not too sure Aanam

[00:02:11] to be very honest. There was one thing in my family like we're from a basic middle class Parsi household. Like my mom was very out there because she was a professor, she was into NCC

[00:02:25] and you know all of that so she also would go for camps leaving us alone with our grandparents and papa and my father was a simple Parsi fellow who would work in Goderich and come back

[00:02:39] and he would just want to see the entire family very happy eating and you know having a blast. He was very like very of one thing that he used to tell my mother if she wants to become an actor

[00:02:51] or something you will have to go with her wherever she goes because I'm not going to let my daughter you know just go here and there. See because industry our little bit you know kuch to hai, humaari industry ke baare mat jo log bohot kuch negative bolte hai.

[00:03:07] And reservations rakti hai. Yeah and there is that behind somewhere in your head there is this thing ke nahi yaar film industry kaisi akeli ladki yeh wo I don't know whether it still exists but you know when I was

[00:03:23] in my ninth and tenth and I would be out there on stage like doing allocutions and debates so my mom somewhere new she's not going to get into the science faculty and you know be a doctor

[00:03:37] engineer wo nahi hoga. She is going to be somewhere following this only and that is what happened. I was more into dancing and modeling and you know a lot of things like even in college there would be extracurricular activities so mai hamsha I would balance it out like

[00:03:58] I was an average student but I was more inclined to this but never knew that I would take it up so seriously. So dad was like okay if she wants to mom was like let my children do what they want

[00:04:11] you know like let them be and my elder brother was obviously like becoming a doctor then. I was like very keen on you know continuing this but the path I didn't know because we were

[00:04:26] all so new to all this you know but as luck would have a destiny like I got a chance to work on stage professionally as in theater you know so I worked with Mr. Dinyar contractor

[00:04:42] and there was no looking back so for a person who has just you know gone into college and is earning her own money getting her own pocket money and not asking from parents it was a huge high

[00:04:55] you know so I was making my money I was liking what I was doing I was on stage so that was my forte and I was learning also at the same time so mai if you say acting ka kya

[00:05:08] knowledge hai all the knowledge all the drama all everything that I got all the education about acting was not from an acting school but actually acting on stage doing like started with backstage

[00:05:23] did understudy you know joined dance classes shamak ke iskye uske and you know got myself into becoming that fine actor by actually being on job so there was nothing like yaar

[00:05:39] mujhe acting school karne hai ya mujhe ye mujhe wo thai nahi it was all just very uh it was fluid it just happened so theater happened then one fine day I got a call from adhikari

[00:05:52] brothers they were making a show called commander and it was very like karamchand kitty kind of a pairing you know so commander and this girl so they wanted you know somebody really young and very

[00:06:06] glamorous and all so they they said chalo call delnas you know for it they'd seen my play or something I got into TV and that was in the early 1992 I'm talking about wow yeah so 92 93

[00:06:21] started with commander and so on and so forth in such a long career has there been a favorite role of yours that you enjoyed playing the most so on TV definitely a show called yes boss which

[00:06:35] was the longest running show of mine it was around nine years that we kind of and to do comedy for nine years is a big task if you see if you talk about a daily soap anam today like you know

[00:06:47] dailies would have various characters and various stories happening but within just five people to do comedy and to be there for nine years is a very big thing and we just were so successful and

[00:07:03] even today people talk about yes boss and they keep talking about my character Kavita of course yes boss was a milestone on TV and then obviously my role sweet too which was

[00:07:14] Kapoor with you Kapoor with you so obviously I mean you know to be very honest with you like I said nothing planned nothing manipulated no team no manager nothing none of the fluff

[00:07:32] that people have today exactly nothing at all I just went with the flow my father saw me on stage and my father would tell my mom that yeah she's very good but you'll have to be with her mom took

[00:07:45] over that responsibility came with me for all my initial shootings and everything because I was still in college so I was still very young it was like what 17 18 when I did commander

[00:07:58] so and so on and so forth at a very young age I got married to a man called Rajiv and we met on the set of Parivartan which was in 94 95 we got married in 96 and so that's when mom said

[00:08:17] that okay fine now you're a married woman now my duty is over now he look after so you know and then by then of course I had quite a bit of experience and meanwhile I finished my BA I

[00:08:32] finished my MA with history you kept that going on the side I did my beard so today I can be a teacher a professor if I want to switch jobs so I was very clear also on that because you know I came from

[00:08:47] a background where nobody knew what films or TV or things were so it was like mom was always she was a professor chemistry professor and like I said my elder brother porous was you know doing

[00:09:02] medicines to become a doctor so everything was like you know academics and was up to me really be a sad hake like yeah I will do this but I will also keep something by the side so that

[00:09:15] something was wrong yeah a backup option so I did my beard also and like I said I have a degree I can teach today if I want to and for a very brief period I did teach in my own college

[00:09:29] I belong to jayin college at church gate jayin college and I passed out from jayin and there was a slight problem with some history professor I think she was pregnant or something and they called

[00:09:42] me they said delnas we know you are an MA in history why don't you come and just you know teach for a couple of months couple of months could do salo and then my ex-husband he kind of

[00:09:56] he said that you know what this is not happening because you're running from pillow to post you're doing like you're teaching and then you're coming back in acting so now my pair mat rakh o ek

[00:10:07] now me chalo and I think that that I'm very thankful to him even today okay bo ek advice me ne liyu un se and I just said okay fine I quit this job and I'm completely going to concentrate

[00:10:21] on my acting career and that's when in 98 I got my first big role with the show called asher vaad because Zee and sony and all these channels just I think 96 97 miss are a channels I and

[00:10:40] Zee ka bahoti popular show tha one of the best with a huge star cast and the show was called asher vaad and I played this character called bubbly and it was very very popular and then so on and

[00:10:54] so forth I got yes boss I got Sajan tum chut mat bolo I got a lot of other shows and the serial journey just kind of started one after the other there's so many things that you said that I

[00:11:08] identify with because a I used to watch yes boss every evening I think it used to come before or after Aladdin so I'm blanking on that because it's a really long time ago and I would watch

[00:11:19] that with my brother while having Maggie it was like a thing but I love that you said you had a backup right because for me also by the way fun fact taught in my own college right after

[00:11:29] graduating because my what yeah one of my professors fell sick and my bmm coordinator called me back and what I thought would be a one semester helping turned into three semesters of me helping

[00:11:41] and then my father stepped in and said you're going crazy why are you doing this yeah I think that you know because you're there now they're not finding someone else you need to like say

[00:11:52] apologize but like you declined to the next semester and I was like yeah you're right because I'm going crazy and I love that you said you always had that backup because a lot of people don't value that backup and I feel like today influencers content creators youtubers whatever

[00:12:07] term you like to use is an industry when I started it wasn't in industry I started in 2011 it's I complete 12 years oh my god in December this year okay and my dad would tell me what's the

[00:12:20] shelf life like how long can you do this because his benchmark was the movies where not nobody in if our family works in the movies but very filmy in a sense of just absolute bollywood box all of us

[00:12:34] my dad wanted to be a director oh my mom said she wouldn't marry him if he becomes a director so there go his dreams getting chopped off but he would have made a great director when

[00:12:45] god was so analytical about the films we watch and he would say that you know what's your backup keep your backup and I was already in my last year of college so I obviously kept that going

[00:12:56] but he always would be like keep an eye on diversifying keep an eye on what you can do otherwise and I think like that probably because of him which is also why I started my own beauty brand

[00:13:06] after completing 10 years in the space because I said I want to have that backup is social media the new backup for actors is my question to you because I feel like a lot of people from the entertainment space who don't necessarily look at social media as a primary

[00:13:23] source of revenue now look at it and I think it's so great that someone with popularity with credibility with the very well recognized space obviously can come into the space of social media

[00:13:38] and say okay I'm gonna do this as well and I know you do so much content yeah yeah I've seen you guys do content I've seen you do content with your family also seen you do some really

[00:13:48] interesting content with your house help yes who's so sportingly partakes I have to say yes yes so tell me a little bit about where this switch and why this switch it's not a switch Annam

[00:13:59] it's like I said it's all unplanned and I am very happy about it you know like even today I mean like I said never a manager never an agency never a team never everything just happened and I feel

[00:14:18] like you said social media is it a backup I would say for me it is a good balance I would not consider anything as backup okay like this question years back people asked me because I came from theater so somebody said uh serial okay so I

[00:14:53] my first love and my constant love and I am still doing theater and I still adjust with my shoot dates with everything when there is a play happening I will still travel with that play I will still

[00:15:07] adjust my dates so it's nothing is a backup for me I enjoy my work and I like to be there in the moment and I like to utilize that part of me like okay theater I've made a very good name

[00:15:24] you know there there is I know my space and I love it I'll do this also I'll do this also I'll do this also and now with social media I'll do that also what you love the most I love theater

[00:15:38] because it gives me instant energy through the response of the audience I definitely love theater I feel television is money it's our daily bread butter jam cheese and movies make history so

[00:16:12] are you still getting sweet too a lot even like today not today but I'm happy about it and I am consciously diverting but coming back to your question Annam I want to complete that that

[00:16:25] yes I feel that social media is a very important part of an actor's life also today and I feel if one keeps a good balance and if one uses it in the right way I feel it's a win-win situation

[00:16:42] because I always say social media you have to use social media you won't use so it is a platform where you can show your talent and of course like you said for an actor it becomes

[00:16:56] slightly more I would say a plus it's a privilege because we are known people we are known faces we are celebrities in that sense that we can come and people will accept us as influencers

[00:17:11] more easily than the others having said that I also feel that it hurts sometimes you know in a conversation somebody saying that you know casting directors are only casting people with blutics or with a certain number of followers I said but yeah

[00:17:45] so that is something which is a little disturbing overall I feel it is if you if you use it in a balanced way in a proper way I think so shocking that you're saying that about a blutic for an acting gig because to be honest social media

[00:18:19] has absolutely nothing to do with the craft we had a casting director punch me on on the pod as well and we were having this conversation with her about influencers becoming actors and the vice

[00:18:30] versa of course but influencers becoming actors in itself and I was like do you go back and check what this person's social media is like while shortlisting them for a role and her response

[00:18:41] was we never check because for us it's about your performance and your ability your art and your craft whether you have followers on social media or don't have followers on social media

[00:18:52] is irrelevant in fact she also happened to have launched projecta koli right I feel that is one of annam I want to ask you what do you feel about it that influencers can they become good actor

[00:19:05] I feel like it's all about the talent at the end of the day today let's say for example an actor is good and is actually managing their own social media we see so many where you can look and tell

[00:19:15] that this is being managed and strategized by a team so you can be a great actor but not the best on social media organically same with an influencer I feel like if you are really tapped into your

[00:19:26] craft and you're so not conscious about cameras being there more power to you do whatever fits for you as a person because I feel like for so long people and society at large has put people

[00:19:39] into boxes right and today we live in a time where nobody needs to put into any boxes and that's fantastic and I think that the space of media today has no rules in that sense anyone can be anything

[00:19:54] anything that's the beauty and the disruption both of it it's the way you plan your path so it's really funny for the longest time you know like as an actor TV pay or whatever sometimes

[00:20:07] you know you do get conscious I get conscious about my weight or whatever whatever but generally after being there on social media the times when I just let myself lose and say

[00:20:18] okay now go to hell yeah you know like this is what it is and this is what I am and I'm comfortable and then there are all these plus size brands that I endorse and do and I'm like

[00:20:29] the torch bearer for body positivity and all of that so I feel like okay there's a good platform to even talk about it and express yourself and so that's actually something I wanted

[00:20:42] to talk to you about as well because I'm glad you brought it up because social media while has its own cons I think one of the biggest pros is that every topic gets talked about with so much

[00:20:53] openness right whether it's about body positivity body neutrality I want to make sure that we're addressing both because there's so many different takes on the way people feel about their bodies

[00:21:04] and I feel like I remember at that time even watching Kal Ho Naho and the way that your weight was joked on I don't think people would get away with that kind of humor in movies or social media today

[00:21:17] but like at that time today today I am telling you Anam when and I laugh it out and I tell people also when they comment I say chill yaar 20 years old Puranibata

[00:21:28] you know like they say we hate Naina and we love sweet too and you know so there are 90% of the people of women or whatever they want to be sweet too they don't want to be Naina you know

[00:21:40] halake Naina heroine the picture key yeah but like comments when yeah she's so toxic why she talking like this and a re bhai character hai and you know like and so like you said today

[00:21:53] people don't have that tolerance but they shouldn't right because you shouldn't be able to call someone I don't even want to say the term overweight but like what is called overweight I remember

[00:22:03] there was this this scene where you were wearing red and your sister in the movie the dialogue called her calls you a BST bus and it's so funny because when I watched the movie the first time

[00:22:13] I was like oh but tell me something like Percy everybody knows it you know like when we are a family and when we are together like my brother Bhakti are my younger brother he's so

[00:22:23] mischievous and he keeps joking around with me and you know stuff like that yeah you know family meh hota nahi hai family meh you know things do happen no so I'm going to be very honest and tell

[00:22:34] you here so I feel like if it's something that's getting used often personally I'm not okay with it we need to normalize the idea of just not commenting on weight yeah of not commenting

[00:22:46] and not saying and on social media people love saying things to women anyway I get called pregnant every alternate week on social media and I can only imagine how much time you must have taken

[00:22:59] to be like okay this is a role I'm doing and this is the type cast that I'm like what was that for you like because there must be some level of hesitation or was there none first and foremost

[00:23:10] I would say yeah I was much thinner than what I am today yeah I mean you know almost like 15-20 kilos down when I see Sweetu today on screen I was like was I like really fat no I was just

[00:23:24] slightly plump first second of all again like I said nobody to talk to nobody to take guidance from when that film came my way I was already a good enough name on television comedy meh

[00:23:39] maher yes boss was full on happening there were other shows so it was like yeah she's very good in comedy she's very good in comedy your timing is fab yeah timing superb hey boy they needed a person who looked a little western Punjabi because they're staying there so

[00:23:59] the way I looked was the way they wanted Sweetu and for me it was like I'm an actor today if somebody were to tell me that I want to be an old man for the role or you know

[00:24:15] to put on a little weight or to be thin or this if there is a challenge I would still do it right so I did not think that what will people think should I do this or not where will my career go

[00:24:30] you know there were a lot of girls who turned this role down I know it for a fact so many of my friends told me that we were also sweet and we also auditioned but then when they

[00:24:43] said you know it's like a little this and that we didn't want to be in that bracket I never thought of it that way but it's so it never affected you personally to begin with then I felt I'm a

[00:24:55] performer this is the biggest thing Dharma productions and that time Yash Ji was there alive and he was a producer and working with them and working with Shah Rukh and Preeti and Saif and Jaya Ji and

[00:25:10] the humongous cast Dara Singh Ji and it was my first movie and I was like wow what a break because I never thought so Kalona Hoa happened around 2003 right so whether I got a call around

[00:25:25] that time and then shooting and all of that so what I'm trying to say is I was already about seven eight nine years in television already an established actor okay and after that I just said

[00:25:40] I mean you know even if it's a supporting good character why not because this thing of me heroine ban na chaati hoon yeah whatever I never had those you know aspirations or dreams

[00:25:53] like I said just going with the flow or mere mein ek cheez hai Anamal tell you today I never say no to work if it feels good now in my heart my gut says karlo karna chahi bus that's it

[00:26:08] then ko hi bhi ho whatever it is I will not change my mind yeah you know if I like it I will just do it and 99% I don't say no to work yeah you know I'm that's why it's been over 30 years

[00:26:25] I still am on the roll and wo hota rahega kuch bhi matab you know whether it's theater I'm now doing a web show it's going to be my first web show next month I'm looking forward to shooting for it so it's

[00:26:39] like every new thing welcome like I said there's no major discussion I don't give that power to anybody else to decide what I want to do so it's all year in my heart

[00:26:55] maximum I will now like whatever comes my way I talk to Percy and I take his suggestion and he's also very happy firstly to he's extremely proud of my you know work and my body of work and you know

[00:27:09] all of that so I've got a man who really encourages me and I don't think he's ever said no don't do this if I feel he's saying if you feel it's right please go ahead and do it I think when

[00:27:22] kalona ho happened there were no questions asked and I was so happy and so taken aback I don't know I mean I don't even remember what my reactions were when I got a call and I believe

[00:27:35] the story that was given to me after I sign and after I shot a couple of scenes one of the assistants were like we have at least auditioned 3000 women for this role wow we've gone to every

[00:27:47] college we've you know kind of and story goes like Nikhil Adwani who was the director of this film was flying somewhere and yes boss my show was on the air India cover Joe TV screening with a

[00:28:04] us pay or something like that and he saw a clip and then he said that can we get hold of and then Sidharth Malhotra the director who is then assistant to Nikhil he belongs to the TV background

[00:28:21] so he kind of got in touch with me and he said that you know we're doing this and why don't you kind of audition so there were the first audition okay fine and second audition

[00:28:33] and a condition Nikhil case omnet how where I did the entire scene and everything so I think it was this entire process was I feel a moment of happiness pride joy going into the office

[00:28:47] the Dharma office and you know being with all these people and shooting and you know it was a very big moment for me and I feel the only thing I feel bad is why didn't happen today

[00:29:02] the social media day and age what's your social media process like though especially like do you plan your content do you pre-film do you pre-film it you're working with brands as well of course but like what are your two processes like organic content and paid content on social

[00:29:18] media like again I don't decide I don't plan it is just that I initially I started with let's just make funny deals okay that's my forte that's the way I am I'm a very happy person

[00:29:34] so I started with you know Percy and Manoj was too difficult people who would never make content with me and I would like Percy please yeah really kick something now he's gotten used to it

[00:29:48] and now he's comfortable and of course Manoj Bichara who smile Kartha Rehta and like you said he's so famous so sweet yeah yeah so so yeah it started with all these funny deals at home and you know

[00:30:02] and then moving on to things I love like makeup yeah you know so started doing a bit of that and then started understanding that okay fine understanding this medium as well because when I see all you guys you know all the influencers actually yeah yeah yeah you learn

[00:30:24] also yeah it's a process you learn so much and I am open to learning I'm open to experimenting so I think it's a mix of both Anam that makes me really happy and going. Do you feel like apart

[00:30:41] from of course body positivity and just awareness is there anything else that you feel social media has talked about that has benefited you in any way when it feels any kind of conversations any

[00:30:51] kind of because social media is the first thing I think all of us now organically take to share our opinions on used to be messages with our friends now it's like let's tweet about it yeah

[00:31:00] what else do you think is the bright side of social media what have you seen in your journey that has been great. The one thing that I really love is connecting with people and there are these ardent

[00:31:12] fans who are always there on your page and who are always like I have never got a hate comment ever. Ever I wouldn't say hate. I would not say that's a hate comment and I simply block

[00:31:28] even if they write M I will block them because I do not want any kind of negativity for me and I'm okay with it I know that yeah okay I'm fat or I am a plus size or I am a certain way

[00:31:48] but I don't want any stranger Alana Falana to talk about it so you are blocked simple which is fair so which is fair so there is always 99% there's only positivity on my page and you won't believe

[00:32:03] it there are few people who are always there for me something goes wrong they are always there to help you and you actually feel that they keep commenting there are a lot of family members who

[00:32:21] don't know what you're up to but your fans know they're always there to you know I feel that the best thing about this medium you know whether it's insta or facebook or whatever I feel it's connecting with your true fans and they give you so much love

[00:32:47] and I'm totally blessed because I have a lot of them you know who are always there for me welcome to my personal favorite segment slide into my dms this is where I take a peek into my

[00:33:00] guests dms and yes I'll be sharing mine too in this no-holes barred segment we nose dive into our guests inboxes as well as messages from you to us from my instagram buckle up for a potentially

[00:33:13] scandalous round of messages and some sweet ones too let's go I feel like this is a great time to talk to you about sliding into my dms which is one of the segments we do okay where I ask you about

[00:33:24] what other weirdest funniest nicest creepiest kinds of dms that you get what's the brand of dms taking over your instagram and is there any specific dm that comes to mind so for me I I have

[00:33:39] this little thing about me here people can call me cute people can call me funny people can call me pretty people can say oh she's such a nice cute person but men calling me like hot and glamorous so

[00:33:54] kabi kabi lafata hai restrict kardo block kardo you know but it's a compliment if they find you glamorous no yeah but I don't want to you know get on with that conversation like agar

[00:34:06] meni kuch thank you boh liya thumbs up blik liya to bhai aur kuch baate hogi and aur kuch ho ga so either I delete the thing or I kind of just block or I restrict so there are certain people

[00:34:20] when there's a picture with me like so they'll write essay glamorous and ma'am you're looking like really hot and then there's this picture with Percy nice so dil toot karaz like that it was like that moment what is that thing it's like that yeah

[00:34:37] so I'm like I don't want to get into this only by us go do you reply to fans I do I do I will never lie I reply to each of my fan that's so amazing comments pe kabi nahi reply kar baate

[00:34:52] but I go into my DMs I feel people who are you know nice and the you know genuine fans they deserve a reply that's so nice I love that thank you for coming on talking about your journey

[00:35:07] whether it's from theater film social media I feel like there's so much more to do in the social media space for everyone that there's a lot to still explore and discover I sometimes

[00:35:18] you know feel that there's so much work out there for all all the influencers and actors and on social media and everybody is doing a great job yaranam and it's a lot of hard work yep

[00:35:32] the other day I was I had a brand shoot kurthi is ka kuch tha and then I had a skin product it was I like whole day whole day shooting that and I was like oh my god how do these people do it

[00:35:46] here you know so it's fun at the same time it's a lot of hard work and it's just being there strong and you know just keep going and keep doing work and I just want to

[00:36:01] you know tell everybody out there all the influencers that they're doing a great job yeah yay thank you on behalf of all the influencers and all the actors who are also balancing out like me

[00:36:13] yeah be doing this and we're doing that great job yaranam no it's amazing because I feel like the whole idea of making that transition while maintaining what you still do is really difficult

[00:36:24] because I know that most movies sets etc series work on a 12 hour shift so to go beyond the 12 hour shift and then find time in your schedule to create content for social media yeah is amazing

[00:36:38] and I also think it's a very smart investment because when and if god I hope not comes a time when work goes on the low for someone on the main scene of acting you have something else

[00:36:50] that you've built a very lucrative potential revenue stream I'll tell you anam during covid this was the main thing you know when we are not working when actors were sitting at home

[00:37:03] and I was filled with work because I was doing brand shout outs and you know like there were these platforms who were there to help celebrities meet their fans and you know through wishes and

[00:37:17] through birthday wishes and I did all of that yeah and ultimately the smarter actors made a lot of money yeah in those two years you know it's it's a damn good platform yeah I so like I said

[00:37:31] it has to be balanced out like you need to know where you need to draw that line and you need to know what is that balancing point for you so well said thank you thank you and before I leave

[00:37:46] I want to just tell you to tell your audience that man a youtube channel shoot yes by delnas I love it I think that everybody should get on youtube because I feel like it's one of those

[00:38:01] most satisfying platforms and medium to be on more than anything else so more power to you thank you thank you anam and thank you for having me oh absolutely my pleasure my honor I get to speak with sweet to go for with you thank you thank you