Bangladeshi director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki shares his experience of working with the late actor for his 2017 film
Chandrima Pal (BOMBAY TIMES; February 21, 2021)

Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s Doob — No Bed of Roses, an Indo-Bangladesh venture, is being touted as an undiscovered gem from Irrfan’s repertoire. Released in 2017, the film, co-produced by the late actor, eventually won several awards and popular love, but not before the filmmaker went through his share of trolling and bullying for the references to a controversial and charismatic public figure in his country. The headlining political context of the time is irrelevant to fans and followers of Irrfan, who recently got to experience yet another elegant and nuanced performance from the actor as a man caught in a complex separation drama. In a chat, the director spoke about Irrfan’s preparation for the role, the language of silences and his eloquent eyes. Excerpts:

How did Irrfan become a part of Doob?
While writing the script, Irrfan’s eyes were always on my mind. But I had two problems here – the language barrier, as he was not a Bengali speaker. And I didn’t know how to get him on board. I came to know he was shooting a film with a friend and brother, Anup Singh. I reached out to him and waited a couple of weeks for an answer.

There was no response from him and I started reaching out to other Bengali speaking actors. I had almost finalised someone else when Anup da replied and connected me with Irrfan bhai. I sent him a link to my films Ant Story (Piprabidya) and Television. Irrfan liked Ant Story very much, and was on board to help our project.

Irrfan was already familiar with Bengali and the cultural ethos, and had immortalised the role of Ashoke Ganguly in Mira Nair’s adaptation of The Namesake. However, in your interviews you mentioned how he took lessons in the spoken language again. Could you take us through the process that he went through to slip under the skin of the character?
Yeah, he did Mira Nair’s masterpiece The Namesake and his wife is also a Bengali with her roots in Dhaka. But the amount of Bengali dialogues in Doob was enormous and we were aware of the challenge. So we started conducting some sessions over video calls with him. We also sent out audio recordings for him to study. I am grateful to him for taking up such an incredible challenge to speak a language he doesn’t speak. I was aware of the amount of risk involved, but I needed to get those eyes to speak to the audience too. He was one of the rare actors who could evoke the most complex emotions with just a simple gaze. I believe this is clearly visible in our film.

Doob, at the time of its theatrical release, stoked controversy in the Bengali speaking community globally about the references to iconic author Humayun Ahmed’s life, especially in Bangladesh. Now there is a wider audience viewing the film with an entirely different perspective. Your views?
Love and hate are just natural by-products of what we do as an artist. But I have grown old enough to remain unmoved by external praise or criticism. I don’t let it impact the way I want to make my next film. When I made my first film Bachelor, which was a romcom, it kind of shook the nation. The OTT release of Doob has given the audience the opportunity to look at the film with a calm and cool mind. Sometimes we need some time to cool off and look at something from a fresh perspective.

You faced your share of trolling on social media, too...
I have learnt a very relevant lesson during the controversy surrounding Doob. Films can be read differently now, thanks to social media. They can be read together with what you had posted on your social handles three years ago on a completely different topic. If it had gone against someone’s political or any other views, he would have waited with a dagger in the dark to crucify me once my film released. Not just people’s personal taste in cinema, these external factors are also coming into play. I wish I knew earlier that it’s a bad idea to share your opinion on social media.