‘Asrani lost everything producing a film’: Priyadarshan on working with the actor on his last films Haiwaan, Bhoot Bangla

So, who does he play in Haiwaan?

He is playing a very old security guard. He is playing a very hilarious role.

You once said that Asrani, Rajpal Yadav and Mohan Joshi are a staple diet in your cinema.

Yeah, that’s trur. See, I was his fan of him from Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Abhimaan to Koshish, what a villain he played. He was a complete actor. In Abhimaan, he actually scored against Amitabh Bachchan. He was not just a comedian; he was a great actor. The film industry has forgotten him. I always thought that he did a brilliant job in my films. After every film with me, he would call to say people are talking about him. He was a part of my family. He always came up with something new, even if it was a comic role. See, the main thing is his timing. His comic timing was so good.

His final work is with you?

Yeah, his health had started failing, but he was still agile on the set. Ten minutes back, Akshay Kumar called me and said, ‘I’m feeling very low, remembering the two films, Bhoot Bungla and Haiwaan.’ We almost worked 35-40 days together.

What do you remember about Asrani the most?

He used to advise me not produce films on my own because he had lost everything by producing a film. His presence was always welcome, and he used to make us laugh by telling old stories. He was such a good narrator; we laughed our guts out. So we kept on telling him to tell us the stories, the stories of Raj Kapoor, all those things.

Did you keep in touch with him or you were working so often together that you were always in touch with him anyway?

No, no, I was always in touch with him. He used to call and say he missed us working together when there was a long gap. He was known to be a good person. It’s sad that, you know, one by one, all the really good guys are gone. The old school was amazing. They’re so dedicated. Asrani never went into his vanity van. He was always on the set, even when not shooting. Haiwan would be his last film and Bhoot Bangla will be his second to last film.

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