In fact rumour has it he isn't too pleased being cast by Vishal Bhardwaj as one of Priyanka Chopra's seven husbands in Saat Khoon Maaf and was in two minds about the part until Vishal persuaded him and assured him that the supposedly saleable John Abraham and the distinguished Naseeruddin Shah and Mohanlal are also part of Priyanka Chopra's harem in Saat Khoon Maaf.
Irrfan has finally relented. Barely concealing his sarcasm the actor described by Time as "the one who can do it all" says, "Whether it's Dibakar Banerjee, Shimit Amin, Anurag Basu, Anurag Kashyap or Vishal Bhardwaj they all make the kind of films that suit my sensibilities perfectly. But they have all moved to another phase in their career.
The Vishal that I worked with when I played the lead in Maqbool is not the same filmmaker who's making Saat Khoon Maaf. He needs commercially viable stars for the budget that his films now need.
And let's be fair I'm not commercially viable enough to make a difference to project."
Evading the spell of bitterness Irrfan says, "Vishal and I kept missing each other. Finally I spoke to him in
Mussourrie the other day.He's writing the script there. Yes I'd love to be killed by Priyanka Chopra. Which man
wouldn't?"The truth is, Irrfan is not too happy with the fact that directors whose art and creativity he trusts are coming to him with secondary roles.
Even the much talked-about Hisss is actually a Mallika Sherawat vehicle.
When asked about its much- delayed release Irrfan explains, "Out here they don't really understand the international market. I think the Indian producers of Hisss have got it right.
They plan to market it as an exotic mysterious product from the Orient. To get into the Western market the Indian producer Govind Menon has now invited a Hollywood studio to take the film to the American audience."
