Irrfan plays a dacoit

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What Bandit Queen did to Seema Biswas, Paan Singh Tomar could do to Irrfan Khan. The actor par excellence is back with a bang on the big screen with Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Paan Singh Tomar. The duo was unable to find a suitable producer and as a result of that had to wait for ten long years to make this film. Paan Singh Tomar, based on a former national steeplechase-turned-dacoit will see Irrfan in a new avatar. “It’s a story about an athlete who became a famous decoit of the Chambal Valley. After Bandit Queen no one made a film on the life of a dacoit. What works for us is that Paan Singh Tomar isn’t known about,” says Irrfan.
The commercial viability of an actor of Irrfan’s calibre is purely based on the strength of his performance in a film. “I’m as big as my films. I might not have the popularity of Salman Khan or Shah Rukh Khan but there is a certain section of the audience that wants to watch my films,” he says.
Irrfan has been associated with performance-oriented and realistic cinema, but unfortunately commercial success has eluded him. Not many of his hardcore commercial films have worked at the box office. “How does one differentiate commercial cinema from parallel cinema? For me a film is a film. There is a different audience for different genres.” The actor who awaits the release of Paan Singh Tomar, has various other plans in the pipeline. Apparently, Irrfan has written a script. “I don’t want to reveal the details, but yes I’m looking for a suitable producer I can make the film with.” Hopefully, that will happen soon. Right now it’s his big film Paan Singh Tomar that takes centrestage.