Irrfan on working in female-fronted films: I don’t mind being ruled by a woman

Irrfan is sold on appealing stories, nothing else matter much to him. The actor also says that one does not get to see a lot of good and interesting films written for women in Bollywood.

There has been much talk around Bollywood churning out female-fronted films. In the male dominated space, it’s like a breath of fresh air, according to many. But, would a male star enjoy being a part of a film with a woman in the lead? Well, the answer is yes for Irrfan. The actor is more than happy to be a part of woman centric projects if the story is appealing. Interestingly, he has already done such features — 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), Piku (2015) and Jazbaa (2015).

Actor Irrfan portrays the role of Yogi in his latest film Qarib Qarib Singlle, helmed by Tanuja Chandra. (Waseem Gashroo/HT)

“I don’t mind being ruled by a woman. Why should I? Had my character been any lesser than a male character in the film, I would have still thought about it. You don’t see a lot of female oriented good and interesting scripts. When I was working in Piku, I never thought that Piku was the main character. I loved the world that the filmmaker (Shoojit Sircar) was trying to create. I just wanted to be a part of it,” says Irrfan, whose latest feature Qarib Qarib Singlle is garnering good response from the audience. The actor says that even in this film he is not the lead.

“Parvathy is the hero of the film and I am basically playing her heroine. If you ask me what got me hooked to the film, it’s the way the film highlights an aspect of a relationship. The treatment of love is different here. The audiences always want to watch cinema that is relatable, they should see their lives or their own aspirations. They want to feel romantic but not through the same kind of stories. This story is about how two diametrically opposite people come together,” adds Irrfan. The actor shares that women deserve much more love and recognition in our society.

So what does the phrase ‘empowered women’ mean to him? And, what about a certain perception that men often can’t tolerate strongly opinionated and empowered women? “An empowered woman doesn’t need to be competing with a man. A woman who understands that and all the dimensions of being a woman, feels confident and easy about it. She is the one who doesn’t feel inferior and understands her power of giving birth to a new life. To me, it’s like magic. She who is not in conflict with other gender and celebrates her womanhood,” the actor explains.

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