Anurag Basu: 'My Biggest Regret Was Not Casting Irrfan In Gangster'

'(Mahesh) Bhattsaab had wisely recommended him for the lead role, but I was young and stubborn then, and would instinctively push back against a producer’s suggestion. I insisted on casting Shiney Ahuja as Daya Shankar. While he was excellent, in retrospect, I realise Irrfan would have taken the character to a different level altogether.'

Six years ago, Irrfan Khan left us on April 29. But for his family, friends and fans, he remains alive, lighting up the screen with his presence, bringing a character to life with his essence, reminding us of the brilliant actor and the warm person we lost too soon.

He shared a bond with Anurag Basu that went back to their television days.

Basu took some time off from his hectic shooting schedule to talk about the actor who made the characters he created his own.

He tells Rediff’s Senior Contributor, Roshmila Bhattacharya, “There was a lot stored in his hard drive, Irrfan knew what to take out and when. That is why, even today, when I am writing a scene, sketching out a character or penning a dialogue, I find myself asking how he would have done it."

'Irrfan created a scene, accused us of cheating and left...'

I met Irrfan for the first time on Zee TV’s musical game show, Antakshari, hosted by Annu Kapoor.

His Banegi Apni Baat team, my Tara team, and a third team from another show were competing against each other.

We were winning when suddenly, Irrfan came on stage, created a huge scene, accused us of cheating and fraud, and left.

We were shell shocked!

He was so serious, his anger so convincing, that it took us a while to realise that he had been pranking us. He had a wonderful sense of humour; quirky and so Irrfan!

'He had been sleepwalking through all those brilliant performances'

Back then, I was doing a lot of episodic shows on television, like Saturday Night Suspense, Thriller At 10 and Ajeeb Dastan, and we went on to do a lot of work together.

Irrfan had a distinct personality and so was able to carve a niche for himself.

But what was amazing was that he could effortlessly slip into a wide range of characters and no matter who he played, there was that unmistakable Irrfan essence. It was a difficult balance to achieve, yet so natural to him.

It never came across that he was ‘performing’, every scene was so believable. He fleshed out so many of my characters, owned them, and brought them to life in such a way that they have stayed with me all these years.

Strangely, when I discussed them with Irrfan later, he didn’t remember anything.

He would say, 'TV ka mujhe kuch yaad nahin hai.'

He had been sleepwalking through all those brilliant performances.

'It felt like he was really dying, we were terrified…'

There was one particular performance in an episode of Ajeeb Dastaan that remains unforgettable.

It was a long shot, more than 10 minutes, and a difficult one because it’s a plot revelation in a thriller. While his character is talking, he has an asthmatic attack and searches frantically in the car for his pump.

When he can’t find it, he gets out and enters the bungalow, looking for it in the living room. One by one, he looks through all the other rooms and continues talking till he runs out of breath and dies.

Watching him, it felt like he was really dying and we were terrified. It was a handheld shot and I was praying I would not forget the camera in my hands and mess up.

When I finally shouted ‘Cut’, there was absolute silence on the set, we were all numb!

I don’t know how many saw that episode or remember it, it must be lying somewhere on YouTube. I wish I could have done scenes close to this one, got out such performances from Irrfan in films too.

'When I approached him for Life In A... Metro, he refused to do it'

My biggest regret was not casting Irrfan in Gangster.

Nobody knows this because I’ve never spoken about this before.

(Mahesh) Bhattsaab had wisely recommended him for the lead role, but I was young and stubborn then, and would instinctively push back against a producer’s suggestion. I insisted on casting Shiney Ahuja as Daya Shankar. While he was excellent, in retrospect, I realise Irrfan would have taken the character to a different level altogether.

When I approached him for Life In A... Metro, he refused to do the film.

I didn’t know it then, but he was annoyed with me for not casting him in Gangster despite Bhattsaab suggesting his name.

Knowing that only he could play Monty, I finally called his wife, Sutapa, and requested her to convince him. Irrfan and I never discussed Gangster, but I admit today that I made a big mistake.

It took some effort to rebuild our relationship and I’m glad that thanks to Sutapa, he finally did Life In A... Metro.

'We wrote the beach sequence in the car, on the way to the shoot in Madh Island'

We shot Irrfan’s Metro track in just nine days, two-three scenes a day.

We had no idea Monty would become so popular, we were writing and improvising on the go.

The scene with Koko (Konkona Sen Sharma) and Irrfan on the beach with Monty tearing up at the thought of never meeting Shruti again, offering to fix her up with his halwai friend, pushing her to confess why she rejected him, then telling her with a smile, 'Take your chance, baby, take your chance,' was written in the car.

We were shooting in Juhu’s Hotel Horizon that day and had to be at Madh Island at around 5 pm, to catch the magic hour.

Irrfan, the dialogue writer Sanjeev Dutta, and I got into the same car.

En route to the shoot, humne scene bana li, and it was ready by the time we reached Madh Island.

'I wanted him for Jagga Jasoos, but we couldn’t match the dates'

I wanted him to play Badal Baghchi aka TutiFuti, Saswata’s (Chatterjee) role in Jagga Jasoos.

I had spoken to Irrfan about the film when it was just a germ of an idea. We were in the office when I narrated the concept of a musical adventure comedy to him. Back then, I wasn’t sure I wanted to travel down that road but Irrfan was excited.

'Banao banao, you must make it, kya soch rahe ho (Why are you thinking so much)?' he encouraged.

I did make the film eventually, but couldn’t cast him. The schedule went haywire and we couldn’t match the dates.

I don’t even know if he saw the film, but we spoke about other films he was making with other directors like Tishu (Tigmanshu Dhulia) and Shoojit (Sircar).

There were projects and characters he was really excited about, but he never got to live all of them because destiny had other plans.

'In Haasil, his character was so scary and yet so lovable...'

My favourite Irrfan films?

That’s a difficult one to answer because there are so many wonderful performances.

Two that immediately come to mind are both Tigmanshu’s films: Haasil and Paan Singh Tomar.

In Haasil, his character, Ranvijay Singh, was so scary and yet so lovable, darr bhi lagta tha aur pyaar bhi aati thi.

Paan Singh Tomar was a National Award-winning performance.

I was also very impressed with Asif Kapadia’s The Warrior.

What made him special was an amazing quality of being able to detach himself from the world when he wanted to. For the sake of his art, he would go into his own zone and recharge his batteries. It’s important for actors to shut himself off from the noise and focus on the role.

Irrfan knew when it was needed. But he couldn’t have done it without Sutapa. Irrfan needed Sutapa’s support to fly. Her contribution to not just his life, but also his career and the choices he made were immense.

Like I mentioned before, Life In A... Metro wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t convinced him. I’m sure she must have done the same for other directors too. She is a creative person herself, I saw that for myself during Banegi Apni Baat.

Despite being an amazing writer and storyteller, she chose to step back from her career, take care of the kids and support Irrfan.

I miss not being able to work with him again. There were times when he would come on the set and be told we would be shooting his scene in an hour. He was never frazzled because just like that, highlighting certain aspects, he could make a character his own. This can only happen when you have observed people closely, lived life.

Even today, when I am writing a scene, sketching out a character or penning a dialogue, I find myself asking how Irrfan would have done it. It happened during Metro... In Dono and Ludo, I’m still doing it because Irrfan could play any character.

That’s why I miss him when I’m not just writing a film, but casting for it too.

We did so much work in television together, I wish I could have done as many movies with him.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff