12 Years of 3 Idiots: Boman Irani had asked Rajkumar Hirani to offer the role of Virus to Irrfan Khan 12 : Bollywood News

It's been 12 years since the release of one of the most wholesome films to come from the Hindi Film industry. 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Boman Irani was a blockbuster and continues to be one of the most entertaining and heartwarming films. Boman Irani was lauded for his performance as Virus, the Dean of an engineering college. However, he was reluctant about playing the role when it was offered to him by director Rajkumar Hirani. He had instead referred the late Irrfan Khan for the role.

12 Years of 3 Idiots: Boman Irani had asked Rajkumar Hirani to offer the role of Virus to Irrfan Khan

In an earlier interview with Bollywood Hungama, talking about his role in 3 Idiots, Boman Irani said, "My role in 3 Idiots was very similar to the role in Munnabhai. If you put a magnifying glass, they are very similar characters. They were so similar- both were deans; both their daughters fell in love with a hero whom he saw as a pain in his eye. And I told Raju that it is the same role and then Raju said no. And I said I won't do it. I had refused the role of 3 Idiots.”

“There was so much love and respect for a co-actor, a colleague, I said take Irrfan Khan for 3 Idiots. I said I think he will be superb in that role. Because whatever he does, he does it superbly. But Raju said that he is too young and then I asked that ‘am I too old?’ and then we laughed on it and went on to work on the character to make it a little different,” he further said.

3 Idiots was released on 25 December 2009 and was well-received not only in Indian but is among one of the most spoken about films in several countries outside India as well.

Also Read: 12 Years of 3 Idiots: Mrunal Thakur on the impact of Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots, says, “It changed my career”