Irrfan learns haircutting!!

Irrfan Khan is very excited about signing Priyadarshan's new project Billo Barber where he plays the title role and becomes the first Indian actor to actually learn the art of hair-cutting."Not hair-styling, mind you. I don't want to learn the barber's art from some posh salon in a 7-star hotel. That kind of hair cutting I know already. I've done it to my kids. The bonafide Barbers hold the scissors in a different manner and the way they hold the customer's hair is different. I am actually going to sit with a roadside Barber and observe him at work. As soon as I finish learning you'll be the first person whose hair I'll cut and then probably Shah Rukh Khan who's my co-star in Billo Barber." He has already started shooting for the film. "We complete the film by July." Irrfan is hugely kicked about this co-star. "Shah Rukh is such a sport. He called me and said 'I'll dance in the film while you do the acting'. He's so comfortable in his space. I want to learn that from him. I want to be comfortable in my surroundings. That's the only plan I have for my career." Irrfan was longing to work with Priyadarshan. "I saw his recent film Kanjeevaram. Excellent film. If he has been doing a spate of comedies it's because that was the market's demand. Billo Barber will take him into a different league. It's a very moving story." Irrfan admits he had to act restrained in his most recent release Krazzy 4. "When we were shooting there were moments when I had to hold myself back. They wanted to focus more on the story. Many of my proposed scenes were eliminated. But I've no complaints. Krazzy 4 is popular with kids. I always wanted to do a film that kids would love. I've been doing too many grownup films." So why doesn't Irrfan direct a film? "Only when it comes naturally to me. I'll only direct when I find a story so compelling that I want to share it with the audience. It may come very soon," signs off Irrfan.

Not disappointed by Oscar snub:Irrfan Khan

US-based Indian filmmaker Mira Nair may be disappointed but her leading man Irrfan Khan is unperturbed by the fact that their movie The Namesake has not been able to make it to the Oscar nomination list.

"I knew The Namesake won't find favour at the Oscars. The culture and the ambience of the movie were alien to America. They live in an enclosed kind of society where their cultures and the way of life are all that matter to them," Irrfan told IANS.

Based on Jhumpa Lahiri's bestseller, the film starring Irrfan and Tabu is about a migrant Bengali family in the US and their son.

Irrfan says for Americans the story of a film about a migrant Bengali family was alien.

"We're yet to make inroads into the West and the way Chinese cinema is made. I mean, long before Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Bruce Lee had made an impact on the Western audience with his Enter The Dragon. Indian cinema is yet to make that kind of impact. But we're getting there," he added.

Mira hit out at the Hollywood industry, saying it suffers from colour blindness, but Irrfan says he has suffered a much bigger blow at the Oscars.

"And that was when my British film Warrior by Asif Kapadia failed to make it to the nomination for Best Foreign Film for technical reasons. The Academy rejected 'Warrior' because it was a British film in Hindi.

"According to them, a British film can only be in English! Thank god, since then the language barriers have dissolved. But it was never fun while it lasted."

Acting is torture:Irrfan,

Their identity is different and they have different sensibilities. And I don’t see their kind of cinema coming out of India. But this is an interesting time and we’re making good, original cinema. There might be something in the next few years.

I’d love to do theatre again... but I need to find the time and the right script. And I don’t want to get bored. When you do theatre, you live with the script for months; you do the same thing again and again and you lose that connection with the script. I’m leaving for London soon and will be doing something that’s a convergence of cinema and theatre. Different actors from different parts of the world — England, Japan, France, America and Sweden — will be reading the same piece of poetry that will be filmed by the director and cut with visuals. I’m on the lookout for such projects that compel me.

Indian stars can’t cross over to the west... because they’re always playing themselves. Our stars are popular abroad, but only among the Indians living there. Americans and Europeans aren’t compelled to watch these movies unless they’re film buffs. But character actors — like Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah — can cross over because they’re not playing themselves.

I make a conscious attempt not to get typecast... and have been doing that since my TV days. I want to keep my work exciting. If I start doing the same thing, I get bored and that’s when acting becomes torture and suffocating for me. So I do different characters, different stories and work with different people. I get offered so many of the same roles — villains, negative roles with positive shades, positive roles with negative shades, humour. You have to pick and choose and that keeps you engaged and versatile.

In western cinema, you deal with the story... not just the role. You’re important in the process of shaping the story. And the directors are non-interfering and very respectful to actors. They see what they want at the time of casting and let you be after that. And I get to do more serious cinema there, which I don’t get to do here.

Multi-starrers can be a pain... if the director forgets the story and does injustice to the film by only focusing on the images of the actors. But when the focus is on the story, they can be fun. Krazzy 4, from what I have heard, has done good business. I don’t want people to say, ‘The film was bad, but Irrfan was good.’ I wouldn’t even mind if they said that the film was good, the business was good and Irrfan was bad!

A filmi award, a National Award or an Oscar? Definitely an Oscar. Every award is about hype, nothing else. Even the National Award is not what it used to be because there is a good deal of lobbying for it. If you had asked me five years ago what I would have wanted, I would have said a National Award, but not anymore. But it’s all the same now and I might as well aim for the most hyped of them all.

Hungry Kya:Irrfan Khan.??

After giving great performances in films like 'Hasil', 'Maqbool' and 'Namesake', talented actor Irrfan Khan, who will soon be seen with Shahrukh Khan in his next movie, says his best is yet to come.Irrfan, who got international attention with the films like 'The Warrior' and 'Mighty Heart', is quite upbeat about his roles in forthcoming movies and says that his hunger for challenging roles will never die."I want to do a variety of roles and do not want get typecasted. I always look for good roles and the recent one that I am playing is the tittle role of 'Billoo Barber' with Shahrukh. The film is directed by Priyadarshan. It is a sweet story on friendship. After that the film on real life dacoit Pan Singh Tomar with the same name which my friend Tigmanshu Dhulia will direct, is a very good role," the intense actor told PTI.So how was the experience working with the Bollywood reigning superstar? "Well the shooting has not started yet." The actor is, however, not disappointed with the his films like 'Sunday' and 'Aa Ja Nachle', which had not done well at box office and says, "My last movie 'Krazzy 4' has done exceptionally well at box office. The gross revenue in the first week was more than 40 crores, which I think was a record in recent times." The bollywood actor, who feels that the foreign films are more realistic as their technique is better, says that there is a whole new interest in Indian actors and they can hope to get more opportunities in films made abroad.After critically acclaimed, 'The Namesake', where he played an Indian who has migrated to the US, and 'A Mighty Heart' with Angelina Jolie, the actor says that the negotiations are on for more Hollywood films

Irrfan The Barber!!

Crazy things the actors sometimes have to learn for their roles!Irrfan Khan, who is quite a talented and accomplished actor in his own right, is set to learn the art of cutting hair for his role in Shah Rukh Khan’s home production Biloo Barber.The movie, directed by Priyadarshan, has Irrfan playing the titular protagonist, a barber.To get into the skin of his character Irrfan will sit with a roadside barber, observe him at work, and learn a few skills of holding scissors and using them from the barber.Irrfan says he doesn’t want to learn hair-cutting from some elite hair-stylist in a big hotel. He wants to learn it from a roadside barber. And he jokingly adds that once he has learnt it, he might exercise his skill on his co-star, Shah Rukh Khan.This is the first time Irrfan is working with SRK. ‘Billoo Barber’ has Lara Dutta playing Irrfan’s wife. The film will also have item numbers by Kareena and Deepika Padukone.

Irrfan and Shahrukh!!

SHAH RUKH Khan got the opportunity to start a film under his banner with his next ambitious project Billoo Barber to be directed by Priyadarshan.
SRK’s claim that Priyan had initially offered this to Akshay Kumar who rejected it, only makes the rivalry between King Khan and Khiladi Kumar hotter! King Khan heard the script and immediately decided to produce the film and act in it too. Considering Akshay Kumar is Priyan’s favourite, Shah Rukh grabbed the opportunity with both hands when Priyan approached him. Says Shah Rukh, “Billoo Barber was offered to Akshay Kumar but he turned it down.

Priyan was doing another film with me. Then he spoke to me about Billoo Barber and asked if I would do a 10-day role in the film. I asked him to narrate the story. I told him that I would not only act in it but even produce it.”

The film is yet another Malayalam remake from Priyan’s kitty but SRK simply loved the script. “It’s a story based on Krishna and his friend Sudama. It’s a very sweet story. The thought is nice. But it’s not fair to call it a Shah Rukh Khan film. It is about Irrfan Khan, his wife and two kids. Billoo Barber is a remake of a Malayalam film called Kadha Parayaumbol and has been rewritten by the same writer. The Hindi rights are with us while the Tamil rights are with Rajnikant. In Malayalam it was made with Mammooty.”

The film stars Irrfan Khan, Lara Dutta, Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani and SRK. Kareena, Deepika and another top actress are slated to play guest appearances in the film. Well, who can say no to King Khan? Pritam will render the music for the film while the lyrics will be written by Gulzar.

Casting the lead actress was the toughest job for SRK. Ameesha Patel and Tabu had turned it down. “I have been reading about all the actresses refusing the project but I would never lie to an actor to get them to do the role. I told Priyan Sir to tell them that it is not the greatest role in the world; but it is not a role that will go unnoticed. I told this to Urmila, Manisha, Juhi. Amisha didn’t do the role because we thought she looked too young to play a mother opposite Irrfan. It wasn’t like she left it or we threw her out. Tabu refused because she didn’t like the role. Vidya (Balan) said no because she did not want to play a mother to two grown-up children. But the kids are 10 and 12-year-olds they are not my age!”

Finally it was Lara who accepted the role. “When I sat down with Lara, I told her that you do certain roles because of the film and she agreed. Juhi and Rani have often told me ‘I don’t have a great role in the film and I am just doing the film because it’s a very sweet film’. I believe in that. If a product is really good, everybody shines. I could be great in a film, but if it is not good, then it doesn’t work.”

Some industry sources have another version. They say SRK is only citing Akshay’s name for publicity and that Akshay was never really offered the role, though Priyan might have considered casting him. But who cares about all this talk, when it’s King Khan we are talking about.

When it comes to her personal life, actress Soha Ali Khan may not have had the best of times over the last few days. However, professionally, things seem to be looking good for the beautiful actress. Soha would be seen alongside talented actor Irrfan Khan in an untitled film co-produced by the Indian Film Company (Studio 18) and Shailesh Singh.

The film is directed by debutant director Anil Sr. and also stars Rahul Bose, Konkona Sen Sharma, Rahul Khanna and Payal Rohatgi in lead roles. Priti Sahani, senior V.P. Indian Film Company (Studio 18) revealed, "It's a light-hearted take on relationships today. We are looking at getting a suitable title that matches the genre of the film, its freshness and the ensemble cast that's come together Even the music of the film is really cool and composed by young and talented artistes." The film has Irrfan and Soha play a married couple while the glamorous Payal Rohatgi plays an aerobic instructor in the film.

So how much of the film is complete? "We will be ready to release the film by September- October this year" signs off Priti.