‘Every superstar has insecurity’

“Every superstar has some insecurity. If a movie of a director becomes <g data-gr-id="70">hit</g>, then the star wants to work with him. He thinks the director gave a hit with others so I’ll work with him too.

“That is why a superstar is in search of choosing new subjects. Insecurity is everywhere. But if you carry the burden of insecurity always and if it is affecting your performance, then that’s a big problem,” Irrfan said in an interview.

The 48-year-old actor’s upcoming project, Sanjay Gupta’s action drama Jazbaa, will see him sharing screen space with Bollywood diva Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The <g data-gr-id="54">Piku</g> actor said, despite her stardom, Aishwarya is a grounded person.

“She has a very larger-than-life <g data-gr-id="69">image</g> but she is very simple. She takes care of people around her and is unlike the big superstar image she has. She is very grounded.” 

The movie marks Aishwarya’s return to <g data-gr-id="66">big</g> screen after a gap of five <g data-gr-id="67">years</g> but Irrfan never felt she was away from movies. “Comeback from where? For <g data-gr-id="65">me</g> she was always here. She didn’t go anywhere. An actor should be allowed a gap. Her audience is still with her. People are her fan, her admirers, and they’ll definitely go to watch her,” he said.

The actor agreed to do “Jazbaa” because he felt it was different from previous projects of Gupta, who is known for films like Shootout at Wadala, <g data-gr-id="60"><g data-gr-id="51">Kaante</g></g> and Zinda.

“Sanjay Gupta usually makes movies where there is a lot of action and the film is male-dominated. Here (‘Jazbaa’), a balance exists. It’s about a woman, a <g data-gr-id="62">child</g> and emphasis is on the story rather than action,” Irrfan said. The actor will be seen mouthing catchy one-liners in the role of a suspended cop, <g data-gr-id="56">Yohaan</g>. Irrfan said there <g data-gr-id="61">were</g> no reference point to play the slightly larger-than-life character.

“It’s always me, the <g data-gr-id="64">director</g> and the story. Today, people come to see me because they know my personality, my style. 

“If I start getting inspired from others then I won’t be able to entertain. This character has my approach- how I would play a larger than life character,” he said. Irrfan was recently seen in Meghna Gulzar’s murder mystery <g data-gr-id="55">Talvar</g> as a CDI officer.

Jazbaa, which opens this Friday, is a departure from his latest real-life inspired drama.“ ‘Talvar’ was purely based on facts, there was no fiction, except for my track with Tabu.“ ‘Jazbaa’ is pure fiction. Here my approach to acting is not to present a reality but to engage the audience, which is not based on any facts.”