If clothes are a reflection of mood, then Indian actor Irrfan Khan was spot on. Dressed in a lemon-coloured jacket, a shirt with green-black-white paint splatters and round gold-rimmed sunglasses, Khan exuded a relaxed and cheerful air. As Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s (ADFF) head of narrative feature competition jury, Khan had a day filled with film viewings. But after a hearty breakfast at the Emirates Palace on Monday, the Slumdog Millionaire star was in a decidedly jolly mood. “It’s a great festival and I meet different sets of talents each year. Not the same faces every year, but some interesting people,” said Khan as he settled himself into a couch.
The actor, who is not bestowed with conventional movie-star looks but has the talent of all the Khans in Bollywood rolled into one, is a regular guest at ADFF. Last year, he brought with him the turbulent drama Qissa; he premiered his sporting champion-turned-bandit drama Paan Singh Tomar in the past. This year, it’s a different ballgame.
“When you are in the jury, you look for innovation and newness,” said Khan.
Khan, 47, has redefined the concept of heroes in Bollywood with stirring films such as the scrumptious love story The Lunchbox and the stirring Maqbool, Bollywood’s answer to Macbeth. He will next be seen alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone in Piku and has an exciting collaboration with exiled Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani.
“Your connection with the audience is the most precious thing for an actor. That’s what gives you standing and your ground. My name could be anything, but my identity is my connection with the audience.”
Excerpts from our chat ...
Q. How’s your ADFF jury duty going and what do you look for in a film?
A. The going is good. I watch three films a day. In the last few days, I have seen some good films but what I expect from a movie is that it should give us an experience. I can’t talk about the films that I have watched, but when you are in the jury, you look for innovation and the newness that they bring to the craft and our sensibilities. For instance, it could be an engaging film but there might not be anything new in there. There are so many angles to be explored during a viewing experience. For an audience, you look into that, but as a jury, a film should give you an experience and more.
Q. Congratulations on your latest film ‘Haider’. It is doing exceedingly well in India and won the People’s Choice Award at the Rome Film Festival … Did you expect such a radical film to do so well?
A. Haider is a sign of how our film industry is maturing and our audience is the biggest contributor to that. Audiences have matured a lot and now there is a new audience. If we can address our films to a different audience, that would be a great situation for us. Haider was a tricky subject because Hamlet is tricky for India. We have this perception of mothers and we have been portraying them in a particular way. We put [on-screen] mothers on a pedestal and glorify their goodness. We glorify all kinds of values in our cinema because it gives a kind of reaffirmation of our values and beliefs. It gives you that feel-good factor. But sometimes, a film like Haider brutally talks about the reality of a particular place. Despite having so many channels and social networks, Kashmir is always discussed in a particular way. But in Haider, it was not just the intellectual elite who were moved by the film. The masses who look for entertainment also loved it. Its success shows that the audience is compassionate and that they are not biased.
Q. But your role as the mysterious Roohdaar (the ghost of Haider’s father) was an extended cameo.
A. It was a friendly gesture. Usually, the length of a role matters but Vishal [Bharadwaj, director] wanted me to play any role in that film. I am looking for a better opportunity to work with Vishal and he’s looking for something for me too. That role was to maintain that continuity between us. But Roohdar was challenging. When we were working on it, we wanted Roohdaar not to be just one person in Kashmir, but that he should also reflect the soul and collective consciousness of that place.
Q. So are you surprised by the ongoing boycott by Hindu nationalists who call the film “anti-India” and “anti-military”?
A. I wasn’t aware of the Kashmir situation before I began shooting. I knew as much as a layman would know about the Kashmir issue. But when the film was offered to me, I started reading books and researched on the topic. And the picture that emerged was a different situation. What the film depicted is only 10 per cent of what was happening [in Kashmir]. I remember somebody there telling me: “I have heard that you have one Nirbhaya [the physiotherapy student who died after being gang-raped on a Delhi bus; the media dubbed her Nirbhaya, meaning fearless] but for us in every household, you have one Nirbhaya. Every house is carrying a Nirbhaya.”
Q. Do you feel that the West has been kinder to you than Bollywood?
A. I never see it in on those terms. The question is: am I in good projects or not? I am not an easy person to be incorporated in a regular format. So I don’t blame them. The films I do are my choices alone and I don’t want to get into the regular stuff. I want to redefine heroism, entertainment and the idea of storytelling. So when you are doing that, you have to carve your own path. Having said that, the West has been kind towards me with their critique. Somehow, I could connect with the audiences there. The kind of opportunities and the demands they put in front of me was different and challenging.
Q. What’s next for you?
A. I am going to work with Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani in a film. It’s a love story, but not like The Lunchbox.
