Irrfan Khan has been on a roll. After the commercial success of Piku he is now set to prove himself in Talvar, following which comes Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa, with Aishwarya Rai. The Quint got chatting with this Khan, who’s a star in his own right, as Talvar gears up to hit theatres this Friday.
Q. Were you apprehensive before saying ‘yes’ to Talvar?
Irrfan Khan:
No, it was just a concern you know, ‘should we do it? Are we right? Would we be
able to state the facts?’ Because we should not be saying something wrong. So those
concerns were there, but not whether I should do the film or not.
Q. Did you have your own perception of the Aarushi Talwar murder case before you
started the film? And, did it by any chance change while filming?
Irrfan Khan:
Yes, whatever perception the media gave us, I had that. While making the film, the perception changed a lot. What happened was that a lot of investigations were carried out on this case. But one particular investigation was highlighted in the
media over and over again. That created a certain perception in people’s mind. The
other investigations were not talked about much. We have tried to put across
all the investigations, and audiences have become intelligent enough to find
the details.
Q. You share a great rapport with Vishal Bharadwaj,
have you come to a point where you take whatever he offers you?
Irrfan Khan:
No, in Haider he offered me other parts as well, but I did not do those. He said, ‘But I want you in the film’, so I said ok, let me do this. It’s not that whatever
he offers me I do. But yes, I never thought this film is a great role for
me to do, or that it will take my career somewhere else. It was more a kind of
compulsion to share the story with the audience. Me as an actor in it, is not
important. The story is important. It’s not about my performance, it’s not about
Irrfan.
Q. You play a character based on a real-life investigating officer. Have
you ever met him?
Irrfan Khan:
Oh yes definitely, I met him. When they were writing the script they met the real person and I met him before starting the film. And then while doing the film
there were other concerns. So we stopped the shoot for five months and kept
on researching further, because after a point there was a version which was not
getting as much space in the film, so there was discussion. They started
meeting the people involved, then we changed the scene, then we brought in the other version
as well. So to meet him and discuss with him, it took five months. So the last
scene that you see now is thirteen minutes long. It’s a discussion, so engaging you know.
Q. Meghna Gulzar told us that you were the first choice for
this role and a unanimous choice. So at this point of your career how does it
feel when a director says something like
that?
Irrfan Khan:
It makes you feel that as an actor you have kind of achieved something, where
stories can be offered to you, and that’s what you look for when you become an
actor, that stories should come to me and that they should be viable enough for the
producer and director. Or you know, they should find me capable enough for the part and there
shouldn’t be any other choice, apart from yourself. (Laughs)
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