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Irrfan Khan has once again impressed critics with his compelling performance in Paan Singh Tomar. While the film is running to packed houses, this versatile actor is already busy with his next project. He definitely doesn’t believe in sitting on past laurels. Fame, is like a cage and Irrfan detests anything that restricts his movement. The success of Paan Singh Tomar is not the culmination of his hardwork, it comes as an extra pack of goodies that the audiences have given him for performing well in the race. You have traversed a long path. Would you rate Paan Singh Tomar as a turning point in your career? I started my career with television serials like Chanakya, Bharat Ek Khoj until Mira Nair offered me a role in Salaam Bombay in 1988, though the role was edited in the final film. Thereafter, I did many unsuccessful films but things changed with The Warrior, a historical film. Today, when people ask me whether Paan Singh Tomar will change my career, I can only look back at my journey and tell them my rating as an actor might better with every hit film, but this doesn’t change my journey as an actor. The film was made with the intention of redefining entertainment. I am glad that the audiences have accepted it,`A0besides taking up the issue of unsung heroes. This is an emotional moment for me. Your performance has been applauded by people like Amitabh Bachchan and Shekhar Kapur, who have written about your spellbinding performance on Twitter. How does that feel? I feel honoured. We worked really hard on Paan Singh Tomar, a subject, which had no commercial or spice element. At the same time, I also look at ‘fame’ as a morale booster, something that doesn’t last for long. As an actor, my work is to do justice to my role. Paan Singh Tomar is the story of an athlete, who became a dacoit. Did you have to follow a strenuous training schedule throughout the movie? Playing Paan Singh was not easy. I had to get into the skin of the character. The challenges were at different levels, steeple chase was a part of it. In fact, it was the fun part, the real preparation was to find producers, who would share the same belief and conviction with which the film was made. In a country obsessed with cricket, the success of Paan Singh Tomar comes across as change in cinematic sensibilities? Definitely. We are a country obsessed with popular sports. We tend to overlook sports which don’t have a glamour element. Paan Singh is a real life story of subedar Paan Singh Tomar, a seven-time National champion athlete and Army jawan who turned into a dacoit. As an actor, I could see the struggle and sincerity of the athlete. When I heard the script, I was thoroughly convinced that it was our responsibility to bring forth this story. I am convinced that the audiences are bringing out a change. Paan Singh Tomar is an original idea and not a copy of any fourth or fifth movie. You are known to take up intense roles like Maqbool and Yeh Saali Zindagi. Don’t you feel the need to be commercially popular? I have been inspired by actors like Rajesh Khanna, Mithun Chakraborty, who could establish chemistry with the audiences without flaunting a muscle. I have not come in the industry as a style icon. I am trying to find myself and it is this search that I want to share with the audience. I want to give them a different story each time. I don’t make a conscious effort to play intense roles, I only believe in subjects that have some substance and value. The gap between art and commercial cinema has narrowed with the directors, who ensure that the subject is given precedence over biceps or triceps. What next after Paan Singh Tomar? I am leading a strange life, the hang over of Paan Singh Tomar is still high but there are other commitments. I am shuttling between a European project and giving interviews on the same, something that I don’t enjoy much. I want to bask in the glory of Paan Singh for a while at least. I don’t work to strike success, I work so that I can make the subject of the movie successful.
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