Actor Irfan Khan will soon play the role of an Arab in a Brazilian film, for which he will learn to speak Arabic. The method actor is known for taking on challenging roles and building an eclectic body of work. Credited with being a part of multi-Oscar winning films, such as Slumdog Millionnaire and The Life of Pi, Irfan will now showcase his talent in the Brazilian film industry, according to bollywood.com.
“It’s too early to reveal any details,” said Khan. “But it’s a Brazilian film. And I will play an Arab. So yes, I’ll have to learn Arabic from scratch. I don’t know the language at all. I am hoping it wouldn’t be too difficult, since it belongs to the same linguistic family as Hindi and Urdu,” he added.
The Brazilian film is not the only film for which Irfan will have to learn an unfamiliar language. He will play a Kashmiri in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider, and is trying to acquaint himself with the way Urdu is spoken in the Kashmir Valley. “We are trying to keep the accent at a minimum, so that it doesn’t intrude in the characters connectivity with the audience... It’s important for an actor to avoid showing off any skill that he learns for a role,” he said.
Kudos to Khan for his brave film choices!
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2013.
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And just to let you know when we were kids 'Angar Wadi' aired on Pakistan TV, there was an actor who played role of an indian army captain (Captain Nolakha), and trust me we used to hate him like anything, he usually does comedies but he played the role of typical indian major in Kashmir so brilliantly that i still hate him.
@Raj - USA: Is he the same actor who played the lead character in the Amazing Spiderman?