Bollywood’s not just about song and dance

Films like Piku and The Lunchbox are slowly changing the perception that we are not just about song and dance and that we have strong content to back our films

Irrfan Khan, actor

Having been part of some very renowned international projects, actor Irrfan feels the western world should look at Bollywood as something more rather than just the song and dance routine.

“People in the west have a broad image about Bollywood that we are all about the song and dance routine and I hope it changes. I would love to change that. There are films like The Lunchbox and Piku which have kind of changed the way people conceive Bollywood. All these films are slowly changing the perception and establishing that we are not just about song and dance and that we have strong content to back our films,” says Irrfan, who has been part of international projects such as Slumdog Millionaire (2012), Life Of Pi (2012) and Jurassic World (2015) and will soon be seen alongside Tom Hanks in Inferno.

The 49-year-old actor believes that it’s important for Indian filmmakers to target fans worldwide. “We must start targetting the global audience and not just the Indian diaspora to show them how good we are,” he says.

With his latest films, Irrfan has established himself as an actor of many facets. “I don’t like calling myself a star. People can call me whatever they want to but I don’t have any such desires. I want to be known as a simple man,” says the actor, who won a National Award for portraying the bandit Paan Singh Tomar in a biopic.

PHOTO: WASEEM GASHROO/HT