My relationship with Rishi Kapoor started as that between an actor and a director. It gradually turned into a friendship. But with Irrfan Khan my relationship remained that of an actor and director. I can’t claim to be his friend. What I have for his is overwhelming respect. He was one of India’s best actors.
I wanted Irrfan to play the role of RAW agent, Wali Khan, in D-Day (2013). But Irrfan knew of me as the director of commercial films like Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Salam-E-Ishq (2007) and Chandni Chowk To China (2009). I didn’t seem to be his kind of a filmmaker. He had no idea about my connection with Sudhir (Mishra) bhai and that I had co-written the screenplay of Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996) and assisted during the film. Or my creative connections with Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane. I had to get Anurag and Sudhir bhai to talk to him about me. Anurag was also writing portions of D-Day at that point. So I made Anurag speak to him. He fixed our meeting at his old office in Aram Nagar in Andheri. I met him over there. Both of them were rolling cigarettes and chatting. When I told Irrfan that Rishi Kapoor would be part of D-Day, he immediately exclaimed, “Dekha, maine bola tha na yeh Kal Ho Naa Ho hi banayega.” I explained, “Sir, Rishiji is a powerful actor. It will be interesting to have him because nobody expects him to play such a character like gangster Goldman Iqbal.” Irrfan said, “You guys are saying that I’m the bloody hero of the film. But the hero of the film is Goldman. He’s the hero from the entry to the exit.” Then I showed him Rishi Kapoor’s look test. He liked it and got interested in the film. Eventually, he came on board.
Few know this. But Irrfan was the first choice for my production Airlift (2016). During the last few days of the shooting of D-Day, I took the Airlift script to him. Director Raja Krishna Menon wanted Irrfan to play the protagonist. Irrfan loved the script. He called me afterwards and said, “Nikkhil it’s a brilliant script. But I can’t do it. I don’t have shoulders broad enough to carry this film. You should make this film only with a star.” That was Irrfan Khan.
Irrfan was a modern-day Sufi. He came from simple background, from a simple family. Somewhere he discovered the things that he started living by. What I’ll miss most about Irrfan is the mangoes he sent me each year from the time we did D-Day till now. He wanted to be a farmer. He was interested in organic farming. He had worked with great talents like Tom Hanks, Ang Lee, Mira Nair… but at heart he remained a rustic guy.
The present scenario in politics disillusioned him. He’d say who decides that I’m a Muslim or a Hindu. Just because I’m born into a Muslim family why make me a Muslim. He questioned that. That’s why he removed Khan from his name. He kept only Irrfan for a while.
As an actor, his performance in Haasil (2003) was electrifying. As also in Maqbool (2003) and The Lunchbox (2013). It’s said one of the best shots in Hindi cinema is that of Amitabh Bachchan dying in the arms of Dharmendra in Sholay (1975). Yet one of the best shots I’ve ever seen is of Irrfan waving out to Tabu in The Namesake (2006). It’s a silent sequence but it says it all.
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