Too old to ogle at women’s bodies: Irrfan

Irrfan Khan refused to get raunchy at a Thank You promotional party despite playing a philandering husband in the comic caper.

Actor Irrfan Khan is playing a philandering husband in the soon-to-release Thank You and he hopes his female fans won’t be upset because his character in the film is far from lovable. "He’s Mr Know-it-all who takes his wife for granted. But he doesn’t reflect my attitude towards women in any way," the actor hastens to add.



Prod him on whether he’s worried about his writer-wife Sutapa Sikdar’s reactions to the role and he laughs, "No, she knows I’m worse." However, despite the bad-boy proclamation, Irrfan admits that the raunchy poolside party thrown to promote the film gave him a few blushes: "It’s embarrassing to see women strip in public. Besides, I’m too old to want to ogle at women’s bodies."

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Irrfan

Hasn’t he ever been tempted to stray, you wonder, and he admits he’s been lured at times. "If the desire comes from deep within, you shouldn’t curb it. Explore it because then you either get over it or get into it," he reasons. However, he doesn’t adhere to the notion of breaking a marriage in the quest for a more perfect partner. "To look for perfection, is in itself an imperfection," he says. "Marriage is not just about romance, but about accepting others to make the most of your life together."



There was talk of all the lead actors — Suneil Shetty, Bobby Deol and Akshay Kumar — re-registering their marriage as part of the publicity. Would Irrfan remarry Sutapa? "Why not?" he retorts. "But why would I want to do that when we haven’t divorced. In fact, given a choice, I’d run away from marriage. Marriage for me is just a certificate. I’d never have gone through with it, had it not been a legal formality; even though mine was a quiet, informal affair."

And how does it feel to be Padma Shri Irrfan Khan? “Nice,” he nods. “Even if you don’t do anything to get noticed, a national honour means that your work is reaching out to people.”