INTERVIEW
‘I want to take up bigger challenges

’Irrfan Khan tells V. Ananth about his latest film Apna Aasmaan which is about parenting

Irrfan Khan, who prefers to call himself just Irrfan, is excited about his role in Apna Aasmaan directed by Kaushik Roy, an ad filmmaker, who is making his debut in feature films. The film is about parenting, and the pressures that we put on our children, says Irrfan.

"As an actor you get to play roles, which are challenging like the one I am playing in Apna Aasmaan, very rarely. The film drives home the message that parents should realise the strength of their children and not push them to do what they would have liked to do when they were children", quips Irrfan at the outset.

Irrfan adds, "As an actor, you get to read 10 to 20 scripts everyday but there are very few scripts, which make you continue to read till the end. Kaushik’s script stayed with me even after I read it for the first time. Though I had no idea about, what he had done earlier as an ad filmmaker, I decided to say yes to him because his script made me repose faith in him as a filmmaker. I liked the honesty of the script and positivity of my role".

In Apna Aasmaan, Irrfan plays the character of Ravi who shares a strained relationship with his wife Padmini (played by Shobhana of South) due to their teenage son Buddhi’s intellectual handicap. Ravi, who feels guilty for having dropped Buddhi as a baby inadvertently, and Padmini have this unreal dream of seeing their son as a normal, good student, who will one day become an engineer or a doctor.

According to Irrfan, "When I read the script, I felt as if Ravi’s character was there in front of me. It was challenging, but not tough to play the role because I know the pressures that parents have as far as their wards are concerned because I myself am a parent".

Irrfan admits that he says yes to a role only if he was able to connect with the film on reading the script. "Sometimes, I may select a film keeping in mind, where the film will position me in the market, even though I may not be very excited by the scope that the role offers me as an actor".

Irrfan insists that he should not be bracketed as a serious and intense actor, just because he had played serious roles in Vishal Bharadwaj’s Maqbool and Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Haasil. Irrfan says he had refused to typecast even when big filmmakers asked him to do intense roles after Maqbool and Haasil, because he felt it was a cardinal sin for an actor to cling to his image to sell his craft.

Irrfan confesses that when Anurag Basu told him about his character in Life in a Metro, the character instantly hooked him. `A0"I enjoyed playing the comic role in the film though it was not for the first time that I had played a comic role. Earlier, I had played such roles in Best Sellers on Star"

While Irrfan is into talks with Rakeysh Mehra for Dilli 6, he has signed Neeraj Pathak’s Right or Wrong in which he is starring opposite Konkana Sen Sharma. Vishal Bharadwaj has signed him to act as a loveable crook in his`A0film — a musical thriller, set in Bhopal. There are also films like Crazy Four and Sunday on the floors.

Irrfan said he was also looking forward to the release of films like Aditya Bhattacharya’s Dubai Returned and West Andersson’s Darjeeling Limited.

According to Irrfan, he was happy the way his career had progressed.

"My life has pushed me in the right direction. I am looking to reach the time when I am in a situation where I can have the options to work in say just two or three films every year and live life kingsize. I know I have not reached a stage where people write a role keeping me in mind. I hope I do not reach that stage because I am scared that I would be in a cage if people start writing roles keeping me in mind and end up playing myself in film after film. Instead, I want to explore newer avenues and take up bigger challenges as an actor."

Irrfan asserts that he has absolutely no plans whatever to take up direction because he knows that he cannot direct for nuts. "I love music but I do not have the ear to pick up good music. Similarly, I cannot write for nuts. I am happy as an actor", he adds. — MF

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