Never expected Irrfan to come on board: Akarsh
When I met Dulquer in Chennai for the first time, it was a revelation because he was such a downtoearth guy who was very happy to make an offbeat choice. AKARSH KHURANA, DIRECTOR
Acasting director, script writer, actor and now, finally a film director, Akarsh Khurana has had quite a journey in Bollywood. His first film as a director, High Jack released in April and now within three months, his second directorial, Karwaan is also up for release. The film’s trailer starring Irrfan, Dulquer Salman and Mithila Palkar opened to a great response and Akarsh says he is overwhelmed. “I knew we had a good trailer but that it would get so much traction was unexpected. People were welcoming Dulquer so warmly and I do think that seeing Irrfan in a trailer created a lot of interest,” he says.
While Malayalam star Dulquer is making his Bollywood debut with the film, neither Dulquer nor Irrfan were on the list of people that he was going to cast, says Akarsh. “This film was written close to four years ago and at that point, we didn’t know who we were going to make it with. The film travelled a lot and found its way in the right hands. My associate producer, Shubh Shivdasani is the reason this film got made. She found the script, championed it, and took it to Ronnie (Screwvala; producer), and she is the one who kind of said ‘lets aim for someone as big as Irrfan’. So, then we met Irrfan and we narrated the film to him and he loved the part and came on board. We never expected it to be that quick.”
Ditto was for Dulquer as Akarsh wasn’t sure of him playing the part. In fact, Akarsh says that he was pleasantly surprised to see how different and grounded he was. “For Dulquer’s part, we weren’t sure who to go with and considered a few actors and gave them some narrations. Shubh suggested Dulquer to me and I had seen his Malayalam film Charlie (2015) but that film was very different from the character I needed. I saw two more films and realised that he had a fabulous range as an actor. When I met him in Chennai for the first time, it was a revelation because he was such a down-to-earth, normal guy who was very happy to make an offbeat choice. He wasn’t one of those South Indian actors who say ‘I want a solo hero film’. In fact, his approach was that if Irrfan was on board, then of course, it was a safe choice.”