The world's his stage

Bollywood buzz

Everything about Irrfan Khan is unconventional: he’s tall, fit (he is said to have stated once that he hates gyms!), and fresh. His charisma, like his eyes, is magnetic. His name is Khan and he’s not a Hindi film superstar. He is a global superstar.

For an era when it is said that the ‘Net has shrunk the world into a global village’, Irrfan’s beginnings were remarkable: he was born in an actual and small village in Rajasthan, despite his mother’s royal descent and his father’s prosperity. Eldest of three siblings, Irrfan jettisoned his family business of a tyre shop, did not really follow his mom’s dream of becoming a teacher (though she is proud of him today!), and went his own way: to a drama school. The passion within compensated for his introverted nature and over-thin figure, both of which were not exactly fit for what he wanted to be.

Through soaps on television and then into films, Irrfan has indeed travelled a remarkable journey. And now, after sterling turns in Hindi cinema like Haasil, Maqbool, Life In A…Metro, Billu, New York, Paan Singh Tomar and D-Day, we could say that he has reached the topmost stratosphere — he has just got to romantically co-star with Numero Uno actress Deepika Padukone, and the mega-star for all time, Amitabh Bachchan, in the recent hit Piku.

Coming from a man known for intense, even dark and often negative roles, it is indeed heartening to see him star in a classic Hrishikesh Mukherjee-esque drama in a comic role. And no, we have not forgotten his dour, sardonically comic intensity in so many films and roles of diverse genres!

Irrfan smilingly refers to his role in Piku as that of an “outsider” to the eccentric Banerjee family within the film. “I am like the audience!” he states, deadpan. “And as you now know, my character of the cab contractor is the relief within the film — relief from the weird actions of the father and daughter.”

Tell him that Deepika feels that his comic side has never been seriously explored, and he says wryly, “People say that comedy is the most difficult part of acting, but I do not know whether it is difficult or easy. I just enjoy it.” He adds that Piku fortuitously landed in his lap just when he was looking for either a romantic subject and a comedy, or a romantic comedy.

Naturally, we say, because he had done an overdose of dark or gray and serious roles in that very kind of cinema. But Irrfan points out that he had no choice, as these were the kind of characters offered to him.

“Look, I am not saying at all that if I did have a choice, I would not have done the roles I got,” he stresses. “As an actor, I am constantly exploring myself. I like to enter new zones of freshness. I like roles that offer me some new perspective different from the routine and yet can engage our audience.”

He goes on, “Unfortunately, I had to make my choices from whatever was offered to me, and over here, everyone has a perception of you and they stick to it. So it was up to me to either conform to that perception or think of how I could break the mould.” And being an idealistic actor, he adds, “And I think that it is my responsibility to explore different roles and characters.”

The exercise, as Piku and even earlier roles show, has been fruitful to date. “Every character offers something new, and you meet a new person through your observation and understanding of him,” notes Irrfan seriously. “This adds to your acting experience, while sometimes your experiences in life also add to your interpretation of a character. Sometimes, you never think you can manage to do a particular thing, and so you surprise yourself. There are experiences you have lived that you get to share, or those that others share with you that you then live on screen. It’s different each time.”

Irrfan has never seemed to be a ‘method’ actor in any of his movies. Is he actually spontaneous or does he go into workshops or method? “I think everything depends on the role and character,” he says thoughtfully. “I actually prefer to be spontaneous — for example, I never did any homework for Piku but just got the rhythm right. However, there are characters with whose background you are not familiar with at all. That’s when research or workshops help.”

A dependable actor at all times, internationally, Irrfan has always been a big, and more importantly, saleable name. Be it in The Namesake, Slumdog Millionaire, Life Of Pi or The Lunchbox and other completely mainstream foreign cinema minus Indian lead protagonists, like The Amazing Spider-Man, Irrfan is huge in the West.

Even today, he is doing two films there — Jurassic World and Inferno. He would not like to talk much about Inferno that has yet to take off, but loves his role in the former film, in which he plays the owner of Jurassic Park. “I am a man with strong beliefs and a certain vision for man,” he says.

Back home, Irrfan is doing Madaari, a thriller directed by Nishikant Kamat, with which the actor is also turning co-producer, and Talvar, a Vishal Bhardwaj production. As per today’s norms, he would not like to reveal much about these films as well as anything about his most prestigious assignment, Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa, in which he gets to work with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

“She’s such a down-to-earth woman, but her potential as an actress is yet to be completely exploited,” he sums up.