Irrfan Khan’s wife Sutapa Sikdar reveals that the late actor was the first choice for Nawazuddin Sidduqui-starrer Raat Akeli Hai: “He liked the core of it but he also added ‘Mujhe boring lag rahi hai kahin kahin pe’”

By Fenil Seta -

June 12, 2023 - 12:00 PM IST

The launch of Shubhra Gupta’s book 'Irrfan: A Life In Movies' was memorable thanks to the anecdotes shared by the late actor’s wife Sutapa Sikdar. She opened up on the aspects that mattered to Irrfan Khan the most while okaying scripts.

Irrfan Khan’s wife Sutapa Sikdar reveals that the late actor was the first choice for Nawazuddin Sidduqui-starrer Raat Akeli Hai: “He liked the core of it but he also added ‘Mujhe boring lag rahi hai kahin kahin pe’”

Sutapa Sikdar said, “Irrfan was not a practicing Muslim. But the one word in Islam he caught very strongly was ‘neeyat’. So the ‘neeyat’ was so strong in his personality that he would consider it while choosing scripts as well. The ‘neeyat’ in the script had to be transparent and honest. Secondly, it had to be entertaining. It can’t be preachy. He was clear that People must get entertained and at the same time, our ‘neeyat’ should be very clear.”

Sutapa then revealed, “There were times when I would read the script and say, ‘It is very boring’. Or at times, he would remark, ‘This script is very bad’. Actually, he didn’t call it ‘bad’. He said, ‘What is new about it?’, ‘Why should I do it?’. He finally didn’t do it as it was not well. That film was Honey Trehan’s Raat Akeli Hai (2020). I loved the script. It is written by a female writer. I thought it was amazing for a female writer to write (the way she did). I kept asking him, ‘What is it that you don’t like?’. He said he liked the core of it but he also added ‘Mujhe boring lag rahi hai kahin kahin pe’. He was very particular about the whole script. He did look at his role too but it was important for him to see how the whole film was.”

Raat Akeli Hai was ultimately signed by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. It also featured Radhika Apte, Shweta Tripathi, Swanand Kirkire, Ila Arun and Aditya Srivastava. It was directly released on Netflix on July 31, 2020.

Sutapa Sikdar also said that there were times when she was not happy with his performance, raising a lot of laughs. She stated, “I didn’t say it in front of others but at night, I did tell him that I didn’t like his diction in The Namesake (2007). He was affected. He told me, ‘What do you know? That Bengali old woman in the auditorium hugged me after watching the film. You are always criticizing me’! So, he was very unhappy. The first time where I really felt touched by his performance was Paan Singh Tomar (2012). That’s when I told him that he has done a good job. And he started crying. I guess he was holding it for so many years ki kabhi toh yeh bolegi ki accha kaam karta hoon main!”

Besides Shubhra Gupta and Sutapa Sikdar, the book launch was also attended by Irrfan’s son Babil Khan, actor Danish Hussain and writer-director Shailja Kejriwal.

Also Read: “I wanted to write a funny book about Irrfan Khan. When this (cancer) happened, he had to fart a lot. That’s the funniest thing to write about, as to how embarrassing it was for him” – Sutapa Sikdar