Remembering Rishi Kapoor And Irrfan Khan: 'I Wish I Could've Paid My Last Respects To Them'- Says Niranjan Iyengar, Writer Of D-Day- EXCLUSIVE
Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan's deaths have shocked us all. Senior writer Niranjan Iyengar rues the fact that he couldn't see them before their final journey.
Sorry, but I have called you to talk about Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan. You wrote many of their movies...
Yes, I had the privilege of writing Irrfan Khan's first film as a hero- Rog. I also wrote Student Of The Year, which had Rishi Kapoor. And then of course, D-Day, which had both.
Were you involved in the decision making of casting them in any of those?
It was pre-decided that Rishi would play Dawood Ibrahim in D-Day. And no, I wasn't involved in any decision of casting them.
Were you there on the sets of these films?
Yes.
Please continue...
So many memories, I used to live very close to KrishnaRaj and meet up with Rishiji so often over drinks. Frankly, I don't know where to start from.
The last time you spoke to him?
It was on a call about 2 months ago. He told me 'Aa ja, our drinks are pending'. I don't know why I kept procrastinating 'Aata hoon kal, Aata hoon phir kabhi'. And now, toh... (trails off).
Your memories with both, Rishi and Irrfan, together..
That was obviously during the making of D-Day. We were shooting close to Ahmedabad. Rishi used to chat with me a lot- stories during the making of Jhoota Kahin Ka, Khel Khel Mein and many other films which he had done in the past.
He used to ask me why I don't drink. He loved drinks. And let me also tell you that he was a big foodie, so much so that he would even go to the kitchen and see kya ban raha hai, kaise ban raha hai.
Both, Rishi and Irrfan, were very strong actors. Any kind of disagreements between them?
No. They had their discussions, of course. But there was no friction at all. Haan yeh zaroor tha that Rishi would get impatient when he had too many lines to say. Lekin phir main unko mana leta tha.
And of course, I shall never forget that scene which they shot together. The set-up had a mosque and even I was a part of it; I was very reluctant to do that scene but Nikkhil (Advani, director) and Rishi coaxed me to do it.
Parting shot?
I am feeling so sad. I couldn't go to pay my last respects to them because of the lockdown. I wish I had got the chance to see them for one last time.
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