Consummate actor Irrfan Khan sits down for an interview to discuss his role in Ang Lee’s exciting and magical new film LIFE OF PI. Based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, it tells the story of a boy who is lost at sea together with a Bengal tiger.Newcomer Suraj Sharma plays Pi, the courageous teenager who takes a perilous voyage across the Pacific after his family drowns in a shipwreck. Irrfan Khan stars as the older Pi, recounting his extraordinary adventure later in life.Acclaimed Indian actor Irrfan Khan talks about working with Ang lee on the engrossing and powerful 3-d movie ‘life of pi’. Khan also discusses his career, his love of India and his passion for acting and storytelling.
Ang Lee’s life-affirming and compelling new film charts Pi’s incredible journey across the Pacific Ocean and explores his fascinating relationship with Richard Parker, his only companion for 227 days.
Irrfan Khan plays Pi as an older man, now settled in India with a family of his own, leading a ‘normal’ life. We meet Pi as he recounts the details of the life-changing voyage he made as a younger man to a writer, played by British actor Rafe Spall. The film is based on Yann Martel’s Man Booker prize-winning novel.
One of India’s leading actors, Irrfan Khan graduated from the National School of Drama in New Delhi, India. He made his acting debut in SALAAM BOMBAY and became a household name in the popular Hindi TV show BANEGI APNI BAAT. His films include MAQBOOL, a Hindi interpretation of Macbeth, which led to major Indian acting awards. There were further awards for his performance in HAASIL. Khan starred in the BAFTA winning film THE WARRIOR in 2003, from British director Asif Kapadia. His other credits include PARTITION, A MIGHTY HEART, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and the highly praised US TV drama series IN TREATMENT. The actor was recently honored by the Indian government with the prestigious 2011 Padma Shri Award, recognising his contributions to Indian Cinema.
Dressed casually in a white shirt over green pants, the attractive and engaging actor sat down for the following interview in Los Angeles.
Q: You play Pi as an adult now living in Canada many years after his extraordinary voyage with Richard Parker the tiger. How do you portray him?
A: “At this stage of his life older Pi is reflecting on the earlier part of life when he was exposed to so many things, even before he lost his family. He is looking back at his life-changing journey when his faith was tested. Pi is reflecting on what made him who he is, what really formed him and all the experiences he had when he was younger, which were so important and unique.
Q: What were your views on Yann Martel’s book when you read it?
A: “It is an excellent book, a book which will never become dated. Even after a thousand years someone will read that book and it will resonate. It is also a very clever book. The story is apparently about a boy and a tiger. But what you take from that story is up to you because it deals with so many things. It deals with innocence, faith and nature. It deals with so many complicated issues. The challenge for Ang {Lee] and his team was to make it simple with all that complexity remaining underneath the surface. The way Ang has brought the book to the screen is amazing.”
Q: Can you discuss your role and the journey of your character?
A: “The writer (Rafe Spall) is looking for a story that can make a difference in his life, a story that can change his life. Someone has told him on his travels about a person called Pi who has a wonderful story. He goes to meet Pi because he wants to hear his story. At the same time Pi has had an amazing experience that is bottled up inside him. He needs a trustworthy listener to download his story because he doesn’t want to talk about his experience to everybody, perhaps not even to his wife. This is a huge story about the life he lived in his teenage years that he hasn’t shared with anybody.”
Q: What was it like working with Ang Lee on the film?
A: “I’m really fortunate that I got to work with Ang Lee. He is a wonderful filmmaker. It is fascinating as an actor to find a director who effectively has a whole world inside of him. Ang has a strong vision and he wants to bring that world and that vision to the audience. There are very few directors who put themselves in the line of fire as he does. He is one of those directors who do not separate the films they are making from their experience of life. He lives the movies he makes; he takes the journey along with Pi. Ang Lee makes the kind of film that will be remembered fifty years from now because of the subject matter and because of the brilliant way in which he tells the story.”
It is fascinating as an actor to find a director who effectively has a whole world inside of him. Ang has a strong vision and he wants to bring that world and that vision to the audience. There are very few directors who put themselves in the line of fire as he does.
Q: Was there a turning point in your own life as an actor when everything changed for you?
A: “My life has changed through the films I have made. I remember that I was working in television in India and was wondering at one point: ‘Is this what I’m meant to do? Is this what I would like to do for the rest of my life?’ Then I thought, ‘No, this is quite boring.’ And suddenly an opportunity came to me. I was offered the role in THE WARRIOR (2003). My life changed with that movie. Suddenly I was interested in the job I was doing; I was interesting in telling the story of that film and being a part of it. Suddenly I found that my work was hugely significant. That is what it is all about for me as an actor and that is what’s unique about acting in films like LIFE OF PI. The power of this job lies in telling stories and being part of stories. I find my work to be beautiful.”
The power of this job lies in telling stories and being part of stories. I find my work to be beautiful
Q: You started your acting career in India and you are now making global Hollywood films. Was that always a goal?
A: “No that happened over time, these things happen without planning. I never planned that I would go to America to work and I never dreamed that I would be a part of Hollywood films. That’s a kind of miracle for me. Sometimes I try to find reasons for what has happened, but those reasons wouldn’t necessarily explain anything really. Life has its own magic and mystery and complexity that I would not like to put into words. But I did know that I had an immense desire to do interesting work. I remember when I was working on The Namesake I asked the director Mira Nair, ‘Will this film change my life?’ She said, ‘Don’t put that much responsibility on a film.’ And I like that idea. At this point in my career no single film changes your life; it’s a process. You keep doing one film after another, you just keep adding to your body of work.”
Q: Did you grow up dreaming of becoming an actor?
A: “I wanted to do something that would engage me so I tried many things when I was young. Then I started watching films and suddenly had a strong desire to do what I saw the actors doing, to experience what they were experiencing. It was interesting because I was very shy and nobody ever imagined that I would become an actor. So for a long time I could not share my dream with anyone. But this desire was lying inside me and I was secretly building a path to becoming an actor.”
By Elaine Lipworth
