IRFAN KHAN WAS APPROACHED TO PLAY MANOHAR PARRIKAR'S ROLE IN FILM, SAYS GOAN ACTOR POONAM KAREKAR GOVEKAR

Jyothi Venkatesh

Goan actress, model and singer Poonam Karekar Govekar has condoled the untimely demise of Irrfan Khan, claiming that she was looking forward to working with him in one of her forthcoming projects.Khan died on Wednesday in Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, where he was being treated for an colon infection. A statement released by his family said that Mr Khan spent his final hours "surrounded by his family for whom he most cared about."What readers don't know is that just before he was diagnosed with cancer, Irfan Khan had been approached by director Maneesh S Singh and myself, to play the role of former Defence Minister, the late Manohar Parrikar.  We had approached Irfan Khan through a common friend and a veteran actress who stays in the same complex (Harmony Building) at Madh Island, Mumbai, where Irfan has a large duplex flat. Khan said he will get back to us within two weeks," Rajesh Kamat, the Executive Producer of the film told this journalist. But sadly Khan never got back and two months later we heard that he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, Kamat reveals.

Best known for his performance in films like ‘Maqbool’ and ‘Piku’, the actor earned a National Award for his powerful act in sports drama ‘Paan Singh Tomar’. Irrfan was also globally recognised for his performance in films like 'Slumdog Millionaire', 'Inferno' and 'Life of Pi'.The Canadian media start-up funded production house Purple Orchid Films which is run by an ex-IITian is producing a film which is "inspired" by the life of our former Defence Minister. According to Executive Producer Rajesh Kamat for Purple Orchid Films, this is not a biopic, but only draws inspiration from the life of the veteran leader who succumbed to cancer a year ago.

While most of the cast includes professionals from Mumbai, theatre artiste Poonam Karekar-Govekar from North Goa plays the role of the main protagonist and narrator.According to Poonam, the film was supposed to hit the floor in May, but has been delayed for about 3-4 months, due to the Corona virus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. About 60 per cent of the film will be shot in Goa in August this year, while the rest will be shot in Mumbai and Delhi. It's a 60 minute film with subtitles in English and Hindi and includes dialogues in Konkani, Marathi and Hindi. "Initially when I heard that Irfan Khan could be possibly part of the project, I was taken aback. He had made a comeback and we were hopeful he would somehow be part of this project," Poonam says, adding that their hopes were shattered when he was again hospitalized due to colon infection.

Poonam is thrilled to be shooting for this project. I” never knew I would be selected. We were supposed to start shooting in May, but it's now delayed by about 3 months. We will roll in August, she says, adding that her contract forbids her from speaking about the budget or other star cast of the film.