Miles to go before I sleep
SHUBARNA MUKERJI SHU: He is a Khan in Bollywood, who is least bothered about using his surname. He rather prefers people simply calling him Irrfan. As an actor, his films like Maqbool, Pan Singh Tomar, Piku, Madari and of course, his parallel Hollywood career with films like Life Of Pi, Inferno and more, are what textbooks are made up of. His legendary acting prowess is what sets him apart from any other actor, none quite in his realm. His fans have welcomed the trailer of Hindi Medium with much fervor. Amidst the applause he has garnered for his film, BOLLYWOOD INSIDER caught up with the man himself at a promotional event.
For someone who is so particular about the kind of films you associate with, why did Hindi Medium become the chosen one?
When filmmakers like Dinesh Vijan and Bhushan Kumar come up to you with a script, you do realize that it will be a good project. It will be something that will be promoted well, and more mainstream than most other films that are made around subjects which are a little off from the typical commercial film. I kept telling them, it feels like I have arrived, when filmmakers such as these come up to sign actors like me.
For someone who has put Indian cinema and it’s actors on the global chart, you are being very modest.
I am so glad that you didn’t call it Bollywood. I have an allergic reaction to that term. When I was young, my parents sent me to a desi school. By desi, I, of course, mean a Hindi medium school. My mother was pretty upset about it and decided that she wants her kids to be in a convent school. She really badgered my father about it, so much so that finally he succumbed. I started schooling in a convent school post nursery but that didn’t mean the language came easy. Amongst our family members we used to say, we will pick the language by the time we reach the fourth grade. I don’t think I have reached there yet. Not only in terms of the language, in terms of my career… miles to go before I sleep.
How important is it for you to pass a message through your work?
Films are a medium of entertainment. If in the course of entertaining its audience a film ends up leaving a thought on your mind, it is all the better, but I won’t refuse a film just because it doesn’t have a social message in it. I don’t think it is in the hands of an actor to change the society. I never once forget that I am here to entertain and entertain alone. Having said that I do like it if the films I choose pass on a message that will make people think.
What message does Hindi Medium send out?
It is in our system that we consider people who speak in English superior. It doesn’t matter if they are saying nothing of importance. At the same time, a person weak in the English language, but excelling in another language becomes inferior if he mispronounces a word. That’s sadly the state of affairs in most non-English speaking countries. I am glad that I am working in a film industry when it is very important for actors to have a good command over the Hindi language. While I might have done a few Hollywood films, I cannot really say I am proficient in the English language. But then again, I have done a lot of films in varied languages I have spoken in Bengali as well as Punjabi in films and I am glad that my audience has not been offended by any of my work. So I sail through, but that doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist. Through the film, we are trying to speak about this language class-divide but we are not preaching anything. We have made a film which has many hilarious moments, if I may say so. People might enjoy and even relate to some of these moments. That’s all that we have thrived to achieve.
There have been many who think an actor of your calibre doing small roles in Hollywood isn’t befitting your talent…
This is something that I have answered before. There are many who are proud to see me out there. It is very difficult to get a breakthrough in the West, and if my going there and making movies with some of the known names makes the people in hometown or in my country happy, I will keep going. I don’t think of myself as an Indian actor or a Hollywood actor. I am merely an actor.
