Anup Singh says he offered Irrfan Khan a crossdressing dancer’s role: ‘He laughed so much, he had tears in his eyes’

Filmmaker Anup Singh, who directed Irrfan Khan in The Song Of Scorpions, revealed that he had another film planned with the late actor. Anup also earlier worked with Irrfan in the critically-acclaimed 2013 film Qissa.

Anup said that he offered Irrfan the role of a male folk dancer who likes to dress up as a woman in his next film. Unfortunately, the actor died before the project could come to fruition.

In an interview with SpotboyE, Anup said, “After Qissa and The Song Of Scorpions, Irrfan often used to tease me, saying, ‘You’re always casting me, but your films really are all about women. When will you do a film with a man as the main protagonist in your film and cast me?’ So, I spoke to him about the new film I wanted to do with him. I said, ‘Irrfan, this is a film about a man, but the thing is, he likes to dress up as a woman. In fact, he’s a folk dancer who dresses and dances like Krishna’s Radha.’”

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Anup said that Irrfan laughed heartily when he heard about the role but was up for it. “Irrfan laughed so much, he had tears in his eyes. You know how he hated to dance! He said to me, ‘You always bring me characters to do that I don’t want to and that I know I have to do. And now you not only want me to play Radha, but also to dance! I have to do this! When do we start?’ Alas, that was never to be,” the filmmaker said.

The Song Of Scorpions, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2017, will be released in theatres soon. The film also starred Golshifteh Farahani and Waheeda Rehman in significant roles.

Irrfan died in April this year, after a two-year battle with neuroendocrine tumour. The actor, who was last seen on the big screen in Angrezi Medium, is survived by his wife Sutapa Sikdar and sons Babil and Ayaan.

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