Boman Irani wows Dubai!

Image: Boman Irani
Video: Abhijit Masih Abhijit Masih in Dubai

Reader Abhijit Masih sent us this article, picture and video of Boman Irani's stand-up act at the Palladium, Dubai.

Have you watched any interesting performances recently? Please do mail us videos, photographs and write-ups to moviesdesk@rediff.co.in

July 9, 2010 proved a hugely entertaining evening for Dubai residents as the talented Boman Irani presented an outstanding, stand-up comedy act at The Palladium.

The performance made it clear that Boman is among the best stand-up artists in India.

The evening was put together by Boman's son Danesh, who has set up an event management company, Eventlogy, in Dubai. This was the first event organised by the company.

To support his son, Boman roped in some of his friends from Bollywood who also made an appearance, including 3 Idiots director Raju Hirani, composer-singer Shankar Mahadevan and comedian Kunal Vijaykar.

But SRK was still the boss!

Image: Dubai-based radio and television celebrity Gaurav Tandon

The evening's opening act was local radio and television celebrity Gaurav Tandon who warmed up the audience with his crisp 15 minute performance.

The 1,200-plus audience were on their feet as soon as Boman made his entry. He took some time interacting with the audience and getting them comfortable so that they got involved with his act.

Unlike most international stand-up acts who take digs at the audience a la Russel Peters, Boman was careful not to cross the line and limited his jokes to Parsis, married men and the odd woman screaming at the back whenever he mentioned Shah Rukh Khan.

'Tum ruko, mein kapda nikal ke aati hoon'

Image: Boman Irani in Dubai

Boman's nostalgic, funny memories about his mother and the manager at his ancestral wafer shop in Nagpada, Mumbai, had the audience in splits.

As did his hilarious stories of his mother giving directions to the taxi guy in what she considered 'cool' Hindi -- 'Hum ko side mein daba do ('Press me on the side' instead of 'Stop on the side'),' or to the dhobi - 'Tum ruko, mein kapda nikal ke aati hoon ('You wait, I will take out my clothes' and come instead of 'Wait, I will get the clothes')'.

How Arjun Rampal won the National Award

Image: Boman Irani in Dubai

Then, there were his gentle digs at his Bollywood friends -- like when he mentioned they used a statue in place of Arjun Rampal in Rock On!, how else did he win the National Award?

Boman's singing talent was aptly demonstrated when he sang We Are the World, almost matching all the voices to the original singers, including Tina Turner and Cyndi Lauper.

Shankar Mahadevan had the audience on its feet again when he sang the hit number, Uff Teri Ada from Karthik Calling Karthik.

Both Boman and Shankar ended the show with a duet of My Way and Kal Ho Na Ho, which left the mostly Indian expat audience mesmerised.

Have you watched any interesting performances recently? Please do mail us videos, photographs, write-ups, to moviesdesk@rediff.co.in