Tigmanshu Dhulia shelves film with Irrfan Khan

Award-winning filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia, who last directed Irrfan Khan in his critically and commercially successful film Paan Singh Tomar (2012), was planning to reteam with the actor for a new film. Buzz has it that the director has now shelved the project after the untimely death of the great actor.

Apart from Irrfan Khan, Dhulia had roped in Manoj Bajpayee for the parallel lead. However, Bajpayee walked out of the project after some time. After his exit, Dhulia decided to play the same role in the film and even lost a lot of weight.

Tentatively titled Bichde Sabhi Baari Baari, the movie revolved around a bunch of friends and how their relationship evolves over 35 years. Irrfan Khan and Dhulia were set to essay the older characters, while Amit Sadh and Vidyut Jammwal had been cast to play the younger roles.

“It was the story of two friends. After it did not work out with Manoj Bajpayee, Irrfan Khan and I were to play the two friends. I had re-titled the film Yaara. It was a desi adaptation of the French film Les Lyonnais (A Gang Story) It was the story of their journey in life from 1955 to 2010. I relocated the plot and the characters to Uttarakhand where I come from. They had to look compatible and convincing as friends. I lost close to 15 kgs for the role. But we did not get to work together in that project,” said Tigmanshu Dhulia while talking to an entertainment portal.

National Award-winning actor Irrfan Khan, who worked with Tigmanshu Dhulia on two notable films – Haasil (2003) and Paan Singh Tomar – died on 29^th April, 2020. He was suffering from neuroendocrine tumour.