Aishwarya was always around, I don’t believe it’s a comeback: Irrfan Khan

Mumbai: Irrfan Khan admits that he is a busy man at the moment. Jet setting from one country to the other, juggling his Indian and international projects leaves him with barely anytime for himself. As we catch up with the talented actor at a suburban five star, we find him discussing with manager his hectic schedule for the coming days. Over a cup of coffee Irrfan admits, “As an actor, I’m satisfied with the kind of work coming my way. Sometimes it is a bit traumatic for my kids, that I’m living out of suitcases, it can be a problem for my family but if I get an opportunity I try to bring them along to my shoots and spend time with them.”

At the moment what is keeping the actor busy is the promotions of his films 'Talvar', 'Jazbaa' and the shoot of his international series, a Japanese show that he has signed. Indian actors are being noticed internationally more than ever before, be it Priyanka Chopra in 'Quantico' or Irrfan who recently featured in 'Jurassic Park' and is now doing a TV show abroad. Irrfan tells us, “Having started out with Indian TV, I can say the international series market is so much bigger. The kind of scripts they have are so engaging. Particularly the American industry is open to all kind of personalities which is why actors from different nations find their space there, not just Indian but Chinese, Spanish, Mexican or Middle Eastern. So our work being appreciated internationally is definitely a good sign and I only hope the opportunities for Indian talent grow.”

Coming to the controversial film 'Talvar', based on the Arushi Talwar murder, Irrfan admits that such crime cases tend to get sensationalized, like the Sheena Bora case currently, so one needs to be careful as to how it is presented. “It is sad that the media chooses to focus more on the sensational aspect of crime cases. Other important issues are sidelined due to this. This is phase that we are going through and as an observer sometimes I reflect on this issue. I met the family as well as some other people associated with the case. While making such a film as an actor too you are cautious that the film doesn’t unnecessarily sensationalize the case or you aren’t presenting anything that is not a fact.”

With a woman director at the helm of thing Irrfan assures us the matter has been dealt with sensitively. “I have been fortunate to work with many women directors from Mira Nair to Meghana Gulzar. With Meghana the kind of research she had done was very inspiring. It was almost like she was obsessed with the case. She had to share that obsession with the world through our film.”

In a complete contrast of sorts is Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa that has Irrfanmouthing dialogues that would please front rows in single screens, “Jazbaa is a film that needed dialoguebaazi and Sanjay Gupta promised me that he will give me good dialogues. He fulfilled his promise.”

The film is being touted as Aishwarya Rai’s comeback film but the actor disagrees, “She took a gap from work because of her baby, I won't call it her comeback. That would be when you are working after 10 years, have quit the industry and then you want to return. In Aishwarya’s case she was always around so I don’t believe it’s a comeback. She is one of the warmest people I have met and she deserves all the love and appreciation.”

Another interesting project is his Hollywood film 'Inferno', where he's worked with Tom Hanks. Irrfan seems in awe of his Inferno co-star Tom Hanks, “Besides being a beautiful actor, he is a beautiful human being and that matters. He also has a great sense of humour and that makes work easier.”

Moving on to other aspects of films, the actor admits that despite juggling multiple projects, he keeps a check on how his films are progressing, “As an artiste I do keep a check on how a film is being promoted, it does matter to me and offer I suggestions but ultimately it’s in the hands of the producers. In the future I may venture into production, there are some plans in mind but acting will always be priority”

And which actors career graph does he want to emulate? “Actors I hope to have a career graph like are right from Robert De Niro, Al Pacino to Omar Sharif. I watch all kind of films except animation, that is one genre I can’t identify with and don’t enjoy.”

Asked to sum his journey in the industry Irrfan says, "Its been amazing. Starting out with no connections, hoping for one extra scene and giving work my best. Being heartbroken when my scenes were edited out to now doing all the work I always dreamt of doing. This is the way I always wanted it to be."