Irrfan turns down Hollywood film for Piku

The Actor declines ‘lengthy, pivotal’ role in Ridley Scott’s Matt Damon-starrer The Martian.

Irrfan Khan is among those actors who boast a diverse body of work in both Bollywood and Hollywood. But unlike many Bollywood artistes, who are often slammed for giving precedence to subpar roles in Hollywood projects over full-fledged characters in their home film industry, Irrfan has been selective in his film choices.

And as he turns down a part in Ridley Scott’s Matt Damon-starrer The Martian for Shoojit Sircar’s Piku, according to filmibeat.com, he seems to value work ethic more than Tinseltown lustre.

The critically-acclaimed actor politely declined the science-fiction film as he had already committed to featuring in the comedy-drama Piku. He had already locked the dates for Piku’s shoot when he was approached with an offer to star in The Martian, and acting in the latter would have required him to cancel his dates for the former.

“It was a lengthy, pivotal role (in The Martian), but I had already committed the dates to Shoojit Sircar for Piku,” said Irrfan, who will be seen playing an integral role in the film that centralises the father-daughter relationship between Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone.

Speaking about his on-screen pairing with Deepika, he said it is one of the most anticipated and unconventional pairings in recent times. “It’s about two people who never imagine that they would fall in love but are drawn to each other. Sometimes they feel the pull, sometimes they don’t. The emotions are delicate and natural.” Piku, which sees the coming together of the team behind the sleeper-hit Vicky Donor, is set for an April 30 worldwide release.

Despite him refusing the role in The Martian, there seems to be no shortage of international roles for Irrfan on the international front. He is reportedly in talks to share screen space with Tom Hanks in the film adaptation of Dan Brown’s Inferno, reported indiatvnews.com. “I said ‘no’ but now we’re working on the dates. They want three chunks and if we can adjust the first schedule, I should be able to do the film,” he stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2015.

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