"I was so afraid of reading this," actress Tillotama Shome writes in a post about a new book. No wonder - the book in question is Dialogues With The Wind, filmmaker Anup Singh's memories of Irrfan Khan, whom he directed in two films and who lost a battle with cancer in 2020. The first of the films was the critically acclaimed Qissa, a Partition drama starring Irrfan as a displaced Sikh patriarch who brings up a daughter, Tillotama, as a son. As she writes in her post, the actress put off reading her director's book about her lost co-star; when she did read it, it actually made her "feel stronger."
"I felt like living beautifully so I can die beautifully," Tillotama Shome wrote, thanking her two "Pappajis for creating cosmic combustions" - Irrfan Khan, her screen "Pappaji," and Anup Singh, behind the camera. "Thank you Anup for being able to turn your grief into something so life affirming. Irrfan, I see you often as birds and the dialogue will continue," Tillotama wrote. Her verdict on Dialogues With The Wind - "The book will hold you tight in a warm embrace, even when things get harsh and ragged."
See Tillotama Shome's post here:
Qissa, released in 2013, starred Irrfan Khan as Umber Singh, forced out of his home with his wife and three daughters. A fourth daughter is born whom Umber Singh, desperate for a male heir, brings up as son. Tillotama Shome plays Kanwar, the boy who is really a girl and who grapples with gender and identity politics until the inevitable tragic conclusion. Qissa co-starred Rasika Dugal and Tisca Chopra. Anup Singh directed Irrfan Khan a second time in 2017 film The Song Of Scorpions, set in the actor's native Rajasthan and co-starring Waheeda Rehman and Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani.
Irrfan Khan, beloved for his work in other films such as The Lunchbox, Paan Singh Tomar, Maqbool and Piku, died of cancer in April 2020. Tillotama Shome reunited with him in the films Hindi Medium and Angrezi Medium
.
