Vishal Bhardwaj got ‘very angry’ with Irrfan after he refused to do Ishqiya: ‘I stopped picking his calls’

Vishal Bhardwaj shared how he didn't speak to late actor Irrfan for three years after he refused to star in Ishqiya. Ishqiya eventually starred Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi in lead roles.

By: Entertainment Desk

Chennai | September 17, 2023 03:52 PM IST

4 min read

Irrfan Vishal Bhardwaj fight for ishqiya

Irrfan was suppose to star in Vishal Bhardwaj's 2010 film Ishqiya. (Pic: Visha; irrfan/Instagram)

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Renowned filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj and late actor Irrfan have created memorable cinema together. In a recent conversation with Lallantop, Vishal Bhardwaj revealed an intriguing chapter in his relationship with Irrfan. Despite their strong bond and successful collaborations, the duo went through a period of silence, lasting over two to three years. The root cause of their disagreement stemmed from Irrfan’s decision to opt out of Vishal’s 2010 film, Ishqiya in favour of another project, following the box office failure of Vishal’s previous film, No Smoking.

Speaking about how he became associated with Anurag Kashyap’s directorial No Smoking, Vishal said, “Irrfan sahab was supposed to do Ishqiya with me. Irrfan was a very funny person. He didn’t take anything too seriously. He used to always stay in humour and that was the reason for our strong bonding. So, I had produced Anurag Kashyap’s No Smoking. I did that because Anurag was in a lot of depression at that time. I was making Omkara at that time and I was in a good position. But that film flopped very badly and nobody understood that film.”

Also read | Amid love and war, Ishqiya leaves you with multiple flavours and a wish for Abhishek Chaubey to make more films

Vishal Bhardwaj reveals a big actress refused to work with Irrfan as he was not a commercial star

However, after No Smoking tanked at the box office, Vishal returned to making Ishqiya. During the interview, the filmmaker also disclosed that a prominent actress declined to star in the film alongside Irrfan due to his perceived lack of commercial appeal. He explained, “We were planning to start Ishqiya, which was to be directed by Abhishek Chaubey and Irrfan was supposed to star in the film. Irrfan ke bina hum kuch sochte he nahi the zindagi mein (We never thought of making a film without Irrfan at that time). And Irrfan had agreed to do the film. But when we reached out to him for the film, he told us that he has signed some other film for those dates. He told me ‘mujhe laga ab toh aapki film No Smoking pitgayi, ab toh aap film banaoge he nahi (I thought your previous film No Smoking bombed at the box office, so you will not make films now). And we had said no to a big actress for Ishqiya because she had refused to work with Irrfan as he wasn’t a commercial actor. I got very angry with him and didn’t speak to him for 2-3 years. I didn’t pick up his calls.”

Also read | How Abhishek Chaubey’s Dedh Ishqiya fulfilled Naseeruddin Shah’s wish of playing a romantic role

Vishal went on to share how they eventually reconciled their differences. It happened when Vishal couldn’t find anyone to play the controversial role of Wasiullah Khan in 7 Khoon Maaf. After much hesitation, he called Irrfan, who readily agreed to work with him once again. The duo had collaborated on several successful films, including Madaari, Talvar, Maqbool and Haider.

Ishqiya eventually starred Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, and Arshad Warsi in lead roles, receiving critical acclaim and achieving box-office success. Its sequel, Dedh Ishqiya, maintained the momentum, featuring Madhuri Dixit and Huma Qureshi alongside Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi.

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