The talented Irrfan Khan came to the Sakal Times office on three occasions — each time to promote his then due-to-release film. We dig into our files and bring to our readers some of his intelligent observations.
‘The Censors too are becoming more broad-minded’
The first time Irrfan visited Sakal Times office was in 2013, to promote his film D-Day along with his co-star Arjun Rampal. One of his co-stars in the film, Rishi Kapoor, who passed away on Friday (a day after Irrfan), couldn’t make it.
The Nikkhil Advani directorial had the actor play the character of a RAW agent Wali Khan.
As soon as he settled down in our conference room for the interaction, he started flipping through the newspapers and asked, “So what’s the latest on the bomb blasts?”.
D-Day being set in the sensitive terrain of cross-border espionage, we asked Irrfan if political commentary can be avoided by the maker while presenting such a film. As an actor who comes with a certain ideology, it is important for him to be convinced about what the director is trying to say.
“Yes, it does matter what the director is trying to say. Nikhil hasn’t shied away from making political commentary, but it is not biased or doesn’t underline any biases. There’s no jingoism, he’s examining both the systems even-handedly. The film looks at politics from a human angle. The director’s heart lies in exploring the complexity of the characters and finding out what cost they have to pay,” was the actor’s sensible reply.
He also spoke about a sensitive film like D-Day getting a U/A certificate. “It feels great, and I am happy. I think our Censor Board is trying to upgrade itself because films are changing, they are trying to push the envelope. The censors too are becoming more broad-minded,” Irrfan observed.
He also said that working with Rishi Kapoor was a dream-come-true for him.
‘Our films are not credible’
In 2016, the actor turned producer with Nishikant Kamat-directorial Madaari, which sadly couldn’t do wonders at the box-office. He played the protagonist in the social thriller, which also starred Jimmy Sheirgill.
During his interaction with Sakal Media Group journalists from across the State, we asked him if the line between commercial and art house films was blurring and he said, “There was a time when there were two kinds of cinema made — one without any credibility and second, an issue-based cinema which wasn’t entertaining at all. Now, a new genre of cinema is emerging, which is blending both things. You have an issue like the one we saw in Neerja or Paan Singh Tomar or Drishyam. These are films which are entertaining and also deal with issues.”
Madaari dealt with a man’s anger with the system. But stars like him, we told him, are said to have it easy when it comes to dealing with the system and getting work done. To this, Irrfan said it isn’t true; rather, it’s even more difficult for them. “Because we are constantly in the limelight, we are easy targets. If we do something, the media gets masala,” he complained.
Sharing an ordeal he was facing, he said, “In Mumbai, in front of my house, they have built these mobile towers, and I am running from pillar to post but cannot get them removed. The system is a system. We have to understand our responsibilities and keep raising questions.”
When asked about Hollywood films making more money at the Indian box-office, the actor pointed out, “I have been telling this from a long time that there will be a time when Hollywood will eat up our industry.
If you look at their history, they have finished the movie businesses in many countries, including the UK, France and others. A few days back, a big star was asked the same thing, and he said, ‘Till the time we have six songs and actresses dancing to them, no one can touch our industry.’ The same star’s movie had released with Jungle Book, and no one had anticipated that the film would eat up his business.
“We need to pull up our socks and make stories which the audience can relate to because they have evolved. They also want to watch intelligent cinema and not just time-pass. If we do not change ourselves, our stories and engage with the younger audience, we will very soon run out of business.”
He had also warned that the change will happen so quickly that we will not get time to think about it. How prophetic!
The actor also explained why the Indian audience is fascinated with Hollywood films — “Firstly, Indians are influenced by the West in every way. We should be able to respect ourselves and see where we lack,” he said.
“Secondly,” he continued, “Hollywood films are popular because of the way they make their films. “Even if their films are issue-based, they are entertaining while their stories have a certain credibility. In India, we say, ‘This happens in films, not in real life’. So our films are not credible,” he pointed out.
‘Education was always a business’
Irrfan Khan strongly felt that no one in our country has the time, patience, or interest to find the richness of our culture. “The whole world is becoming a place, where they want everything readymade and instant gratification,” the actor had said at ST office in 2017 while promoting Hindi Medium, which went on to become a huge hit.
During the conversation, the actor said that cinema is an escape root for the layperson — they want to get away from their life’s problems and want to get entertained. “Till the ’60s, our cinema was entertaining, engaging and deep-rooted in our social milieu. Makers were concerned about people, society and their issues. But suddenly fluff came in, and we started taking stories from abroad and lost our ability of think,” he pointed out.
He added that filmmakers like Raj Kapoor, Saeed Mirza, Mehboob Khan had a great camaraderie. “They were happy about the others making money through their films at the box-office. People used to take pains while making a film and go to great lengths. Today, there is no desire to tell a story. Stories have become a medium to find a means,” he shared.
Somewhere during the conversation, when we asked him if he had faced the problem of being a Hindi or English medium student, he said that when he was a student, education wasn’t such a big business. “It was always a business but not at this level. Now, because English is an international language, it’s believed that if you know the language, only then you will be able to make something out of your life. But you will be surprised to know that many famous and well-established people have studied in a Hindi medium school,” he pointed out.
On a lighter note, he shared that in our country, pronouncing a Hindi word in a wrong manner isn’t a big deal but you can’t mispronounce an English word. “People will stare at you,” he said and laughed.
He also believed that regional cinema is picking up because it’s highlighting local issues which Bollywood has stopped doing.
