Moving Irrfan performance in cross-gen romance

Netflix India has a way with words on social media. The streaming giant aptly described the mood around Irrfan Khan’s film ‘Doob: No Bed of Roses’. “It’s okay if you make typos in the comments’ section. We are all watching this with teary eyes,” it said after dropping the film’s trailer on YouTube earlier this week.

There’s a twinge of sadness in watching films of actors who left us sooner than expected. ‘Doob: No Bed of Roses’, by celebrated Bangladeshi Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, was a hit at film festivals, before becoming the country’s official entry to the Oscars in 2017.

The film, based on popular Bangladesh filmmaker Humayun Ahmed’s life, is a poignant, painful separation drama. Javed (Irrfan), an acclaimed director, finds himself in the middle of a media storm when he breaks his marriage with Maya (Rokeya) and moves in with a young actor Nitu (Parno Mittra).

Javed hates the mundaneness of life. He loves reminiscing about his adventurous journey, which involved eloping with Maya. He rues his mid-life crisis by asking his wife, “When did our life become such a drab art-house movie?”

It’s an interesting conflict that Javed’s second wife is his daughter’s (Nusrat) classmate. The film astutely portrays society’s conservative attitude towards the older man-younger woman relationship. Farooki doesn’t fully explore the sufferings of a dysfunctional family and that’s a let-down. Javed’s second relationship isn’t etched out well.

The character is right up Irrfan’s alley. His style of dialogue delivery — which comes with unexpected pauses — and his brooding eyes keep you glued. As a man accepting his vulnerability and philosophical outlook to life, Irrfan is a treat to watch.

You will be left with a lump in your throat, when he says, “People die when they become irrelevant to the world”. Irrfan’s relevance stays strong with his roles.