Irrfan Khan meets Oscar winning costar Natalie Portman during Spiderman shoot

By Subhash K. Jha -

April 1, 2011 - 11:16 AM IST

Natalie Portman's richly-deserved Oscar for Black Swan made two Indian film personalities very, very proud and happy. Irrfan Khan who played the lead opposite Natalie in Kosher-Vegetarian, and Mira Nair who directed the film, just couldn't stop smiling for Natalie.

Irrfan Khan meets Oscar winning costar Natalie Portman during Spiderman shoot

Irrfan went many steps further. In Los Angeles this month shooting for Spiderman where he plays the main villain, Irrfan re-connected with Natalie Portman, just to tell her how much he appreciated a co-star of his getting the coveted Oscar.

Says a source, "Actually Irrfan and Natalie have stayed in touch. She's that kind of girl. Very cool and hassle-free. She had a great time shooting Kosher Vegetarian with Irrfan and Mira where she played a Jewish woman who runs into a Gujarati man. During the shooting, Natalie bombarded Irrfan with queries about India and Indian cinema. They really bonded."

Known to be shy and aloof with his co-stars, Irrfan kept in touch with Natalie. When she won the Oscar Irrfan was the happiest. On reaching the US to shoot for Spiderman, one of the first things that Irrfan did was to get in touch with Natalie. She immediately invited him over for gup-shup.

The source says Irrfan spent a good two hours with Natalie. Apparently, she has expressed a desire to work with Irrfan again.

When contacted for details on his meeting with the Oscar-winning diva, Irrfan demurs, "I think it would be very cheap of me to discuss this. My rapport with her is not something she or I would like to talk about. You must understand that in Hollywood stars don't talk about their private meetings. All I'll say is, I had a great time shooting with Natalie for Mira's film. She's a lovely woman and a fantastic co-star and I look forward to working with her again."

Irrfan returned from the US stint of Spiderman for the promotion of his new commercial masala comedy Thank You, which apparently he has promised to show Natalie Portman.

Grins Irrfan, "I've never done a full-on masala film before. And I had a blast. I shot the 'Pyar Do Pyar Lo' song with Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol just after I completed a spell of my American series In Treatment. After performing scenes that question the validity of life in In Treatment, I had a blast doing the song. After we completed the song I again returned to shoot for In Treatment. Such cultural contradictions are beyond the understanding of my co-stars in Hollywood."

While Irrfan is reluctant to talk about his connectivity with Natalie Portman, Mira Nair is more than happy to share her effusiveness over her bonding with the Oscar-winning actress whom she calls 'Mama Natalie'.

Says Mira, "I've been in touch with Mama Natalie. I connected with her even on the day of the Oscar. She's a lovely human so happy about her permanent production house. I'd love to work with her again after Kosher Vegetarian. And I will."