Irrfan Khan was a modern-day sufi, well versed with poetry and literature and chose movies wisely, says filmmaker Nikkhil Advani as he gears for a retrospective on the late actor's rich filmography.

Advani serves as an advisory council member of the not-for-profit organisation G5A, which is hosting the three-day retrospective on Irrfan through its vertical Cinema House.

The retrospective, which will be held at the G5A warehouse in South Mumbai from Friday, will trace the actor’s cinematic journey through some of his iconic characters in feature films such as “Maqbool”, “The Namesake”, “The Warrior”, “Paan Singh Tomar”, “Qissa” and “The Lunchbox”.

"We are also showing behind-the-scenes photographs of his interactions with his directors, writers and co-actors. So it's a weekend of celebrating Irrfan Khan," Advani told PTI in an interview.

The filmmaker had worked with Khan for his 2013 action-thriller "D-Day", an experience that he continues to cherish even today.

"He taught me to be fearless and instinctive. He believed that once you have written the script, let's just enjoy the journey. Irrfan chose (films) wisely, like if he had decided to do a mainstream film, it was because he wanted a bigger house.

"Irrfan was a modern-day sufi, he knew poetry and literature. He had read so much and interacted with so many people thanks to the international films that he made with Ang Lee, Mira Nair and Ron Howard... He was very passionate about lots of things that today we have forgotten, like brotherhood, art and cinema," he added.

Considered one of India's finest and most versatile actors, Khan died after a battle with a rare form of cancer in April 2020, at the age of 54.

The retrospective will also screen the actor's short films, Mira Nair’s “Migration” and “Road to Ladakh”, as well as a few diploma films that Khan did with FTII students and the episodes from the Star Bestseller TV series.

It is hosted by Khan's wife Sutapa Sikdar, who helped them curate a list of titles that will be showcased.

Advani believes Khan always enabled filmmakers who wanted to "tell a different story".

"He allowed them to do that by being part of those movies, by sitting, questioning, and collaborating. And that is what we are celebrating," he added.

The “Kal Ho Naa Ho” director also revealed that he wanted to make his 2016 production "Airlift" with Khan but they could not.

“Irrfan was the first choice for ‘Airlift’ and when I went to him for narration, he said, ‘You will not get the budget. My shoulders are too small for this film. You should go to Akshay Kumar’.” Noted cinema personalities, including filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj, Tigmanshu Dulia and Shoojit Sircar, as well as actors Pankaj Kapur, Nasseruddin Shah, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Nimrat Kaur, will be part of the retrospective.

Mira Nair, Ritesh Batra and actor Konkana Sen Sharma are expected to attend the retrospective virtually.

Anuradha Parikh, the founder and artistic director of G5A which seeks to promote contemporary art and culture, credited Khan for bridging the gap between mainstream and indie filmmaking.

"The reason that we felt it is important to start this series is because we wanted to celebrate and bring back the culture of watching films together and create a space specifically for independent cinema in a world that's still dominated by the mainstream,” she said.

"It is this kind of watching together and discussing the film which we are screening. Meeting the cast and crew of the film enables discussion on filmmaking at a deeper level,” she added.

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