Mithila Palkar recalls ‘scary’ experience of working with Irrfan Khan, shares why he called her ‘Binaca Geetmala’

Irrfan Khan passed away in 2020 following a long battle with neuroendocrine tumour. Mithila Palkar got to share the screen with him in the 2018 film Karwaan.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | April 15, 2023 11:53 AM IST

3 min read

mithila palkar on working with irrfan khan

Mithila Palkar revealed that Irrfan Khan had no ego and was keen on learning on the set of the 2018 film Karwaan. (Photo: Mithila Palkar/Instagram)

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Actor Mithila Plkar, who became popular among the youth with web shows like Little Things and Girl in the City, got a chance to appear on celluloid with one of Bollywood’s most talented stars, Irrfan Khan. The two starred together in Akarsh Khurana’s comedy-drama, Karwaan. Mithila recently shared how, like many, she was also starstruck by the late actor. She also revealed that, unlike many big stars, Irrfan was pretty down to earth.

Recalling her experience of working with Irrfan, Mithila told Cyrus Broacha on his podcast, “It was scary because he is who he is, but he made it so easy. It was so much fun to just watch him. I used to forget that I am his co-actor and not his audience. As characters, we are not supposed to get along but there were so many funny things he said with a straight face that I just laughed, which I was not supposed to do since I was playing a character who doesn’t like him. I took proper 10-12 days to just constantly tell myself that I cannot laugh at his jokes.”

Irrfan Khan passed away on April 29, 2020, from a colon infection following the diagnosis of a neuroendocrine tumour. He was 57.

Also read | ‘Irrfan Khan said he was tired of the pain, he wanted to be rid of it’: Deepak Dobriyal on his Angrezi Medium co-star

Mithila recalled how Irrfan used to call her ‘Binaca Geetmala’ as she kept humming and singing on the set of Karwaan. Binaca Geetmala was a weekly radio show that started in the 1950s which gave a countdown of the top songs from Hindi cinema.

The young star also mentioned how Irrfan had an eye to learn and didn’t mind sitting down with her to understand how YouTube works. Mithila shared, “After Karwaan, he had to shoot for something on the internet for a web show. So, he was curious to know how the internet works. Because he knew that I came from that world, he was not embarrassed, ashamed or anything of that sort, there was no ego play that ‘ab main isko kaise poochun?’ (How do I ask her?) He sat me down and asked me who watches it, how does YouTube work?”

Also read | Mithila Palkar: The girl-next-door tag is a stereotype, but I don’t get affected

Before Karwaan, Mithila acted in Muramba, a Marathi film and web series Girl in The City and Little Things, apart from featuring in a few TV commercials.

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