Waiting for Irrfan

Vishal Bhardwaj and KriArj boss Prernaa Arora are planning their other films while their project with Piku stars Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan is on hold.

This week, Irrfan revealed that he is suffering from “a rare disease” and would share details after a “conclusive diagnosis”. Requesting fans not to “speculate” about his health, the actor said he would update on his condition in seven to 10 days.

Earlier, Bhardwaj had cited health issues of his leads to shift his film’s shoot. At that time Irrfan was only down with jaundice.

“I am pushing back the film by a few months as both of my lead actors are down with different health problems,” Bhardwaj had said. “Irrfan is down with jaundice and it will take him a few weeks to recover and Deepika Padukone’s back problem, which had developed during the shooting of Padmaavat, has now resurfaced. Her role in the film is very physically demanding and the doctor has advised her not to do any strenuous work for a couple of months.”

Nostalgic about Irrfan and Maqbool, he said: “In the past few weeks, I felt like I was back in the days of Maqbool prepping with them. Deepika and Irrfan’s look tests have come out exceptionally well, nothing like you’ve seen before, and it took me a moment to recognise them when I saw the test photographs. I want both of them to be strong and fit before we start the film.”

Prernaa also said: “We will resume work as soon as they get well. In the meanwhile, Vishal and I have already begun work on our other films together.”