Irrfan Khan: I am happy that the bridge has been crossed from critic to popular on my own terms

Actor Irrfan Khan wants 2018 to surprise him like the last year. He will be working on an international film titled ‘Puzzle’. The actor reveals that last year closed with a bang. He had done some outstanding films last year and even won awards for the same.


The actor said, “For me, the year closed with a bang. The most interesting thing was, I was honoured at the Dubai International Film Festival along with Cate Blanchett, who is my most favourite actor. So it couldn’t get any better for me. It has been a great year not only in terms of the releases, also special memories of my films ‘The Song Of Scorpions’ going to Locarno and Doob winning many international awards. Finally, the long journey from critics to popular acceptance bridged through ‘Hindi Medium’ and ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’. I want 2018 to surprise me as well.”


Talking about his latest film ‘Hindi Medium’ the actor said, “Hindi Medium has been able to crack the magic of marrying content with popularity. I am happy that the bridge has been crossed from ‘critic’ to ‘popular’ on my own terms. I didn’t have to go the so-called massy route. I must tell you that though I won for ‘Hindi Medium’, I was nominated for the ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’ role in the popular category as well. ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’ has also performed well at the box office.”


The actor further added, “For ‘Hindi Medium’, the entire effort went into making an aspirational but fantastic story into a relatable tale, whereas in ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’, my effort went into making the role which is fantastic and aspirational as relatable as possible. So in a way, the two roles had to be approached from opposite directions.”


The actor talks about reaching a wider audience, he quipped, “It has always been important. But at the same time, I couldn’t ignore my need to tell the stories in my way and not compromising on the kind of films I wanted to do and reach a mass audience. So, I am happy of the audiences’ need now to watch fresher and newer content. Hence, it is becoming easier to reach a wider audience, a mass audience through my kind of films. So at this juncture, it’s all coming together and happening organically.”


The actor concluded by saying, “It began a few years back as Hollywood cinema was becoming stronger and stronger. With time, we are all witness to how regional cinema is becoming bigger. Hindi cinema can no longer ignore the audience’s need for fresher content. It is now a necessity to have fresher way of storytelling if Hindi cinema wants to remain big and survive.”