Interview: It is difficult to describe Irrfan in words… Sutapa Sikdar, who is writing a biopic, misses him/her.

The real life of late actor Irrfan was very different from the reel life. Be it the dacoit of ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ or the domineering student leader Ranvijay of ‘Haasil’, many colors were seen in Irrfan’s cinema, but in real life he/she was a lively person who spoke very little and listened to others. These things were said by the late actor’s wife and writer-director Sutapa Sikdar. Recently she had come to the city to participate in an event. We talked to him/her a lot about Irrfan and theatre, to which he/she responded candidly. Here are some important excerpts from the conversation with him/her: Met the narrow and shy Irfan
People will have to go back about 30 years to start talking about me and Irfan. However, I don’t have to go, because these 30 years have followed me till today. I remember the first time I saw Irrfan. Then we met during admission in National School of Drama. At that time Irfan was a narrow, shy and scared person, but there was a passion in him/her that he/she wanted admission in NSD. Initially I did not notice Irfan but then gradually we both came closer to each other. Actually, both of us were experts on honesty so we chose an honest partner. I was not going to be worried about whether Irfan was successful or not, because I just wanted a partner like him/her.

tried to bring out the character within himself
If anyone was in front, Irfan would always listen to him/her. he/she used to watch her every movement very carefully. he/she spoke less and listened more. I remember that when he/she was going to do the film ‘Lunch Box’, he/she must have read the script about 500 times. Wherever he/she went, he/she just kept reading the script. I asked, is there any play that you are remembering? On this he/she said that you think I am memorizing it, I am just trying to internalize its creation. The special thing is that even after studying so much, he/she used to forget after going on the set.

It is difficult to describe Irfan in words

Sutapa Sikdar, Wife

Trying to write a biopic
I am writing Irrfan’s biopic, but it is difficult to describe Irrfan in words. Now I feel that to write his/her biography, Irfan will have to come back again and if I ask him/her questions, then maybe I will be able to write it. his/her character was as calm and calm as the depth of the sea. It was not known where the stop was. he/she was a very focused person, I am not so much. There was a great desire to learn, there was only one thing in him/her that I should learn, just keep learning whatever I get from wherever I get. Used to talk only to a select few people. Hated ego a lot. As far as Irrfan’s friends are concerned, he/she still has contact with all his/her friends.

believed in coincidence
Irrfan had great faith in coincidence. he/she often used to say that why coincidences happen is because they have a purpose. he/she used to talk a lot about ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, because there were many coincidences in this film, hence he/she felt that this film would be made and would also be a hit. This movie was very close to him/her. The first reason was that it was made by Tigmanshu Dhulia, secondly it was a challenging film. As far as we are concerned, many times I used to say about films that Irrfan, you could have done this scene better, then he/she used to say that yes it was possible but I never thought about it. As a writer, I used to give him/her scripts many times and he/she used to make them better with his/her acting. I believe that an actor is the one who reads the script and adds his/her acting spice to it. What an actor he/she is who can read the script straight away and perform it exactly the same.

Irrfan had great faith in coincidence. he/she often used to say that coincidence has a purpose

Sutapa Sikdar

never asked for religious conversion
My husband never asked me to leave my religion and neither did I. We had a court marriage. I have always been a Hindu and Irfan has always been a Muslim. Neither did we abandon each other nor our religion. Eid, Diwali are all celebrated in our house. Yes, the children are Muslims. I always like this culture. It was nice to see this culture in Lucknow also. To be honest, this is our identity that a Muslim is making a cloth, a Hindu is selling it and a Sikh is buying it.

Today the agenda is to choose a drama
We used to get a lot of exposure in NSD. The atmosphere was different there. In our time there was Pragati Maidan, there used to be many theaters there. We used to do a lot of theatre. At that time in NSD, our plays were not selected so that we could show in the end why India is great. The play must be good, even if it depicts social inconsistencies. Nowadays, the plays being selected in NSD are being done under an agenda. Many of the plays are not happening because they are from different ideologies. Now there is an agenda for choosing plays. I believe who are we to tell someone what to make and what not to make. Everyone should be given a chance to create their own kind of drama.

Actor Irrfan’s son Babil is in depression, mother Sutapa Sikdar said – there is a lot of pressure on him/her, leave my child
After going to Aminabad I felt as if I had come to Lucknow.I have come to the city for the first time but I don’t understand why it is the first time. I should have come but could not due to work. Lucknow always remained in my mind. I had seen Lucknow in the movie ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ and thought what a lovely city it was, but when I came here, I did not see anything like this. Actually, I stayed in Gomti Nagar which is called New Lucknow. I felt like I was in Noida, Ghaziabad. I went to Aminabad to feel Lucknow. After going there I felt that this was the Lucknow which I had seen. To tell the truth, there is something special in the air of this city. It made me its own in the first try itself.