‘Did not like playing an old man in The Lunchbox’

Actor Irrfan Khan is not keen on playing old age characters as he does not want to be bracketed in that space. ‘After Life Of Pi, a lot of people approached me to play the role of similar age bracket but I turned them down. 

I worry about getting bracketed in this space and hence I keep experimenting,’ Irrfan said. Irrfan has played older characters in movies like Namesake, Life of Pi and in his upcoming film The Lunchbox.

In Oscar-winning director Ang Lee's Life of Pi Irrfan played the role of adult Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi). In The Namesake he essayed the role of Ashoke Ganguli, an immigrant from West Bengal. ‘I instantly said yes to The Lunchbox as I loved the story. 

But the only thing I did not like was that I was playing a character of an old age guy all over again. You really have to make yourself feel like an old man physically as well as mentally and it takes a lot to get out of such a mould,’ Irrfan said. ‘When I played an old man in The Namesake, it was difficult to get that character out of my system,’ he said.