Jogira Sara Ra Ra’s Nawazuddin Siddiqui: ‘Irrfan bhai took me along to meet Danny Boyle unannounced’

Seen together in Ritesh Batra’s critically acclaimed 2013 film The Lunchbox, acting stalwarts Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui were also close associates in real life. Both the actors have their roots at the National School of Drama, and they seemed to enjoy each other’s company off the camera too. Nawazuddin - who is currently promoting his upcoming romantic comedy film Jogira Sara Ra Ra along with Neha Sharma - was recently asked about his association with the late Irrfan. The actor shared a fond memory, which also involved the director of Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle.  

Speaking with NDTV, the Gangs of Wasseypur shared an incident that took place many years ago in Mumbai. Nawazuddin spoke in Hindi that roughly translated to, “Whenever Irrfan bhai was preparing for a Hollywood character, he would call me over and I would instantly become his co-actor. One day, he called me at around five in the morning and said, ‘Let’s go to Sun-n-Sand Hotel [located in Juhu, Mumbai]. Director Danny Boyle is staying there. We should go meet him’. I had no idea who that was."

Adding to that, the actor said, “Nonetheless, we reached the hotel and were waiting for Danny in the corridor. We were chit-chatting and had some three-four cups of coffee, while waiting for the filmmaker to arrive. In between, somebody told us that Danny had gone for a run on the beach and that he should be back in a while. Our plan was just to go meet him the moment he arrived. Then, he finally came back to the hotel. With him, there were two other people, one of them being a casting director. The moment Danny entered his room, Irrfan bhai also went in and introduced himself. By that time, Irrfan bhai had already done a couple of films abroad, so the director recognised him. Then, he sent me in and that’s how I met Danny. This remains as one of my fondest memories with Irrfan bhai.” 

Eventually, both Irrfan and Nawazuddin were selected to join the cast of Slumdog Millionaire. But Nawazuddin couldn’t go for the shoot due to some prior commitments. The 2008 film went on to win eight Oscars. 

Also read: Nawazuddin Siddiqui on Jogira Sara Ra Ra Ra: Comedy comes naturally to me

Cut to Jogira Sara Ra Ra, the film is written by Ghalib Asad Bhopali and directed by Kushan Nandy. It also features Sanjay Mishra and Mahaakshay Chakraborty in supporting roles. The movie is releasing on May 26.