“Irrfan Khan Is Incredibly Strong, That Will Drive His Treatment”

Abhinay Deo talks about what sets Irrfan Khan apart from any other actor and opens up about his illness.

Irrfan Khan-starrer Blackmail is scheduled for a release on 6 April and filmmaker Abhinay Deo has taken it up on himself to promote the film in the absence of his lead actor. The director of Delhi Belly, talks to The Quint about how he cast Irrfan, the actor’s health and more.

Was Irrfan Khan the first choice for Blackmail?

Abhinay Deo: Yes. Every time we were talking about casting, we said - you know we must have somebody like Irrfan. So, I said, ‘one second why isn’t it not Irrfan?’ that’s how it happened. Though we did also think about other people as we would do for any film but Irrfan was always the benchmark for us and finally the benchmark became the star.

Do you remember your first meeting with Irrfan Khan?

Abhinay Deo: My first meeting with Irrfan was I think few years back. I met him along with Tigmanshu Dhulia because Tishu and me are also friends. Tishu and I were chatting and Irrfan came in, it was at some party. He came in and said “Arre yaar kya film banayi hai yaar, Delli Belly. Super film banadi, apan ko kuch karna chahiye saath mein.” And I said ‘Inshallah! Hum zaroor kuch karenge saath mein and hundred percent karenge saath mein’ then I said, ‘I am a big fan of yours and I really want to do a film with you’ and he said ‘likewise ya.’ Within probably one year of that, this script came to me and I met him again and I said, ‘Chalo, so now we have got the chance to do what we want to do’.

So what was script reading like?

Abhinay Deo: The good part is Irrfan unlike whole lot of people in our industry likes to read and read fast. So we gave him the script because this is not a script which can be narrated very easily. So I told him ‘you know what, you take your time but you read it’ and I gave him the first draft which was in English.

“So he (Irrfan) read the whole draft and the minute he finished reading it he called me and said I am on.”

Abhinay Deo, Filmmaker

Irrfan is an amazing actor, what was the process of collaborating with him on Blackmail?

Abhinay Deo: The interesting part about our process was that, I said - look what we will do is I want to meet you even before the shoot begins, 5-6 times and we will sit and just chat. It’s very important that I know you and you know me. And you should understand my sense of humour as much as I should understand yours, because at the end of the day, it’s a funny film and humour is all about timing. And it’s not just about the actor’s timing; it’s also about the director’s timing. It’s like how people match their stop watches and timings; we literally had to do that. We had to match our timing together. I can’t be running on a certain timeline while he is running on another one. Then there would have been a discord and the film would have really suffered.

Instead, what we did was we understood each other’s pace and timing and that’s when it became extremely easy. So those 4-5meetings that we had before the shoot really ended up becoming the driving force of the shoot. So on the shoot it was like butter.

What’s Irrfan’s process of getting into the character?

Abhinay Deo: We didn’t do any homework like reading scenes because he doesn’t believe in that.

He believes that spontaneity has to be maintained and the more we ‘ghisso’ everything by the time you reach in front of the camera, you are already dead. So instead of that, he said that we won’t do anything.

Abhinay Deo, Filmmaker

I was also of the same opinion that - let’s not read scenes and do scenes, it was simple let’s talk and know each other. I think that process really broke the ice between the two of us. It was really an enjoyable experience.

What do you think sets Irrfan apart as an actor?

Abhinay Deo: I think Irrfan has an incredible maturity towards understanding content. What he does is, he does not just read, he makes it his own. To my mind that’s what sets him apart and that’s what sets any actor in the world apart from his contemporaries.

When you are able to take the whole content not just your character and make it your own.

Abhinay Deo, Filmmaker

We all know Irrfan is undergoing treatment for NeuroEndocrine Tumour right now,  but how was his energy and health keeping up during shoots?

Abhinay Deo: His energy on set was amazing. We noticed nothing. Actually it was pretty much of a surprise to him as well. He was absolutely energetic. As a matter of fact there was a whole lot of shoot that was happening at night.

Shooting all night is always a little difficult but he was perfectly fine. He was very upbeat and enthusiastic there was no problem at all.

Abhinay Deo, Filmmaker

How and when did you come to know that Irrfan was unwell?

Abhinay Deo: I suppose the media and me came to know pretty much at the same time. You know just about before the release of our promo is when he told us.

That he is not keeping well and getting admitted to get a little bit of a diagnosis done and it looks like jaundice is what we had also understood and that’s exactly what even they thought, because all the symptoms were of that.

Abhinay Deo, Filmmaker

Then later on when it did happen that is when he called and said it’s a little more serious than that so I am right now just planning my treatment, unfortunately I can’t make it to any of the promotions and that’s how it went.

I think, very seldom do you see such strength in people you know. He is an incredibly strong man, incredibly strong in his head and his heart and that’s what I think the driving force of his treatment is going to be.

Abhinay Deo, Filmmaker

He has his entire family’s support. All of them are incredibly strong people and are doing it with a smile on their faces. It can’t get better than that.

Which is the first Irrfan Khan film you watched?

Abhinay Deo: Warrior

What was your first impression of Irrfan when you met him?

Abhinay Deo: I think nobody ever knows when Irrfan is actually telling you a joke or if he is serious. You never know because he is so straight faced about everything and suddenly you are like, is he joking or is he telling the truth or is he making fun of me?

He is a damn funny guy with a straight face.

Do you think the marketing of a film gets affected when a lead actor like Irrfan is not around to promote the film?

Abhinay Deo: Of course, it does get affected when the main star connected with the film is not available to promote it. Of course, it is a big disappointment for filmmakers to have a little bit of a handicap there. But, the reason for this handicap though I think everybody understands, even the audience does. And the audience is not insensitive, they are all smart people,neither is the media, the media also understands. If it was a case that Irrfan is shooting for something else and that’s why he can’t promote it, then it would have affected us far more. But, here we know nothing is bigger than life and nothing is bigger than his treatment at this point of time.