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Irfan
Khan what many actors can’t
His
face is ordinary. But his histrionics are brilliant. A fine actor by any
yardstick, Irfan Khan certainly doesn’t need an introduction.
Over the past decade, tele-buffs have seen him in serials like Chanakya,
Banegi Apni Baat, Chandrakanta and Naya Daur, to name just a few. And
now any die-hard channel surfer can see him in Darr on Star Plus, Sparsh
on Sony and Babuji on Sahara TV. Of course, he has done a variety of roles
but he is not a totally satisfied actor yet. For, he is still looking
for that elusive, meaningful role.
He finds television a medium of opportunity to do good and varied roles.
But there is a tinge of regret in his soft voice. “The economics
of television doesn’t permit a director to experiment,” he laments.
“So what we have is a lot of slap-dash and knock-off work that doesn’t
have a proper presentation. So many good serials which start on promising
notes deteriorate somewhere down the line. So for an actor there is no
choice but to work within these limitations.”
Television, in his opinion, is more of a listening medium. “It is
a verbose medium as everything is explained through dialogues. So the
scope for treatment is limited,” he observes. “And since the
budgets are limited, you have the same locations, the same bungalows and
very stressful condition of work because one episode has to be wraped
up in two shifts.”
A natural actor who emotes effectively and delivers his lines almost effortlessly,
Irfan feels there is a lot of suppressed talent and creativity in him
which has not been tapped or exploited so far. “An actor is like
a pregnant woman,” he reasons. “The whole process starts from
the conception level when the role is narrated to you. You nurture it
and give it a final shape on screen and live with it till the end. So
it’s like a mother-child relationship.”
“However, if the role doesn’t shape up well then the dissatisfaction
can be seen on my face,” he adds further. Also what bothers and frustrates
him is the non-popularity of a channel or serial. “When you do a
role you work very hard on it,” he explains. “You want your
work to reach people. But when a channel is not popular, all your efforts
come to a naught. The same thing happens when a serial doesn’t get
good viewership for whatever reasons. When people appreciate my work I
get inspired and encouraged to do my best.”
Since he doesn’t understand how the TRP figures are arrived at and
how reliable they are, he has no clue how Darr is faring on the popularity
charts. “But I have got an overwhelming response for it.” He
plays a psychopath killer in the serial. “He is not the usual psycho
killer who kills women for a thrill. He is a normal person and he justifies
his act,” Irfan says, talking about his role.
Babuji is a political satire which has him playing a politician. “It’s
a good change for me because I have not done a satire so far,” he
says.
A few months ago, Irfan turned producer with two stand-off episodes of
Star Bestsellers. And now he has turned director with a serial which he
is also producing for Star Plus. Not titled yet, the serial is all about
people living in a metro city and the problems they encounter. Weaved
around a working couple, the serial explores husband-wife relationship
minutely. “It’s like scenes from a marriage or a marital diary
and deals with issues and problems which are easy to identify with. It
is going to surprise a lot of people,” he claims with a smile on
his serious face.
A peace-loving person who hates violence, he has turned a complete vegetarian
because “I can’t eat a dead body.” Irfan says he is a totally
private person and an odd man out in the happening showbiz world. He feels
that nothing works here on merit. “Everything works very well here
for some people but nothing works for others,” he points out. “I
am still a labourer and luck has never surprised me. Whatever I am today
it’s because of my hard efforts which have given me a point of view
in life, a sense of involvement and an identify of my own.”
A.L. Chougule