Exclusive! Anup Singh reveals that Irrfan Khan would talk to camels on the sets of The Songs of Scorpions

The last film of the late actor Irrfan Khan, The Song of Scorpions, is finally releasing in theatres in India. Ahead of the release, the director of the film, Anup Singh, tells us about his memories of shooting with the much-loved actor.

Anup told OTTplay, "Irrfan would get into the skin of the character to such an extent that he would start to live in the space that his character would in the film. During the shooting of The Song of Scorpions, he would hardly be in his vanity van. Even when it wasn't his scene, he would be around on set, sitting on a stone or walking on sand with bare feet. He would even tell his lines to a plant that was around. It was as if he were not the star, Irrfan, but the character who lives in that village. There was a sense of belonging he had to the space he was in, so it never seemed like he was performing. It was as if he really was the person who he was essaying."

Perhaps that was how Irrfan managed to make each of his characters so authentic. 

Speaking more about Irrfan, Anup added, "It was not only encouraging for everyone on set to see that a star like him was around all the time, in the sun or extreme cold, but seeing his process of acting was a treat. Once he became familiar with a space, certain elements would become second nature to the character. I have seen him sitting on the sand and playing with stones silently. Since he played a camel treader in the film, one day I saw him talking to camels. Irrfan was telling one camel calf, 'Kahan se aaye ho tum? Kitni durr se? Why is your name Rocket? Ah, you must be running fast, haan. That was his way of living the life of the character while filming."

In The Silence of the Scorpions, Irrfan plays a man named Aadam, a camel treader who is in love with a scorpion singer named Nooran, and what happens after they get married.

The film also stars Golshifteh Farahani, Waheeda Rehman, Shashank Arora, Kritika Pande, Sara Arjun, and Tillotama Shome. It will release in theatres on April 28.