Irrfan left for his heavenly abode last year on April 29, after battling neuroendocrine tumour for two years. His unexpected demise came as a rude shock for his family, friends and fans. The actor par excellence had delivered one top-notch performances after another and Karwaan was one such where Irrfan emerged as its heart-and-soul. It was also one of the last films he did. On his first death anniversary, Karwaan’s director Akarsh Khurana spoke about his experience of working with the inimitable actor.
Speaking about how Irrfan behaved with everyone on the sets and how he was eager to learn something new. Akarsh said, “Irrfan would talk to Dulquer (Salmaan) a lot about Malayalam cinema. He would talk to Mithila (Palkar) a lot about the YouTube generation. He would find somebody to talk to about their political ideologies, or filmmaking. The great thing was that he was always eager to learn your worldview. And also, he had great knowledge about everything himself. You could hold a conversation for hours with him about almost any topic. You know, it's quite rare to see that an actor is actually so open to engage on many things.”
Talking about his first meeting with Irrfan and getting to work with him, Akarsh said, “I think I was very fortunate that my journey with him is filled with a lot of very fond memories. When he passed away, it was quite shattering for all of us. But I have very consciously tried to remember the time we spent together and the experiences we shared. My last memories of him are pleasant and happy images and it is something that I've tried to kind of hold on to. I think right now, more than ever when we are surrounded by bad news and tragedy, the only way to keep your sanity is to hold on to something positive as an anchor.”
Akarsh also revealed that they had let Irrfan choose the role he wanted to do in the film and he went on to choose not the lead character of Avinash but the supporting role of Shaukat in Karwaan.
(Source: TOI)
