Originally, a documentary wasn’t a part of the plan. Director Tigmanshu Dhulia had hired Ranjeeta Kaur only to shoot the behind-the-scenes footage of Paan Singh Tomar (2012). She, in turn, suggested that they turn it into a documentary. The result — A Story That Refused to Die, which examines one of Hindi cinema’s most honest performances: Irrfan as Paan Singh Tomar.
(L-R) The actor with director Tigmanshu Dhulia. Picture Courtesy/PR
The documentary is set to première at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Bandra on April 29, remembering the late actor on his sixth death anniversary. Proud as Kaur is to have helmed it, it also comes with regret. The actor never watched the creation. Kaur recalled, “I had sent him a DVD because he was travelling, but to my knowledge, he never saw it. Tigmanshu sir and his family saw it.”
Pic/AFP
A Story That Refused to Die comes 14 years after Paan Singh Tomar’s release, after facing hurdles of lost footage, crashed hard drives, and more. To her, one sequence in the docu remains special, in which the actor explains how he approached the scene where the lead meets his son. “When you watch that, it stirs something inside you. From an art point of view, you want to know how Irrfan sir did that,” she said.
Irrfan with Ranjeeta Kaur. Pic/By Special Arrangement
What, according to her, made Irrfan such an extraordinary artiste? She reflected, “He was curious and valued existence. He wanted to know more — about himself, people, and their psychology. He’d bring his consciousness to his character.” What made him unforgettable was that it didn’t come wrapped in self-importance. “He loved laughing. It was never, ‘Look at me, I’m so serious about my art’.”
April 29
When the docu will première at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre