By:
Subhash
K.
Jha,
IndiaFM
Thursday,
November
22,
2007
Post
his
recent
successes
Irrfan
Khan"s
price
for
endorsing
the
Hutch
cellphone
has
shot
up.
Says
Irrfan,
"I've
done
five
ads
for
Hutch
and
this
is
my
only
endorsement.
I
didn't
have
to
ask
them
to
raise
my
fee.
They
did
it
on
their
own.
I
definitely
feel
that
if
any
product
or
company
is
making
money
out
of
me
I
should
be
paid
accordingly.
But
I'm
realistic
about
my
fee.
I'd
never
over-price
myself."
The
talented
Irrfan
Khan's
career
seems
to
be
caught
in
a
curious
cul
de
sac.
On
the
one
hand,
media
sources
accuse
him
of
coveting
only
lead
roles.
On
the
other
hand,
he
has
recently
done
guest
appearances
in
two
films
only
because
he
believed
in
the
director.
After
a
cameo
in
Wes
Anderson's
just-released
Darjeeling
Limited,
Irrfan
will
be
seen
in
a
brief
but
important
guest
appearance
in
Yashraj
Film"s
Aaja
Nachle.
"I
play
a
single-minded
businessman
who
doesn't
have
much
respect
for
the
fine
arts
and
would
happily
sacrifice
creativity
for
commerce.
It"s
a
small
but
significant
part
and
I'm
being
billed
as
a
guest.
Hopefully,
it
would
lead
to
bigger
things
with
them," informs
Irrfan.
This
is
evidently
the
actor's
way
of
getting
into
the
glam-league.
He
seems
to
be
emulating
what
Lara
Dutta
had
done.
By
putting
in
guest
appearances
in
Yashraj's
Fanaa
recently,
Lara
landed
up
with
a
plum
role
in
Jhoom
Barabar
Jhoom.
Reportedly,
Irrfan
is
soon
to
be
cast
in
a
major
role
in
a
Yashraj
film.
"Well,"
he
admits
reluctantly,
"Lots
of
things
are
happening
after
Metro
and
The
Namesake.
The
big
banners
now
have
confidence
in
me."
In
Rakesh
Roshan's
Krazzy
4,
Irrfan
attempts
comedy
for
the
first
time.
"Not
quite
the
first
time,"
he
corrects
the
assumption.
"I've
done
full-on
comedy
in
Aditya
Bhattacharya's
Dubai
Returned.
In
Krazzy
4
the
comic
element
comes
out
of
honesty
within
the
character.
You
know
I
try
to
find
an
element
of
humour
in
whatever
I
play.
Realistic
acting
is
otherwise
boring.
Even
in
Metro
I
found
occasions
to
introduce
humour
into
my
rather
sad
interactions
with
Konkona."
He
says
he
shares
a
very
special
rapport
with
Konkona.
"She's
very
inspiring.
Now
I'm
working
with
her
in
Right
Ya
Wrong
…It's
easy
for
me
to
work
with
her
because
we're
collaborative,
not
competitive.
Acting
has
to
be
collaborative,
otherwise
the
film
suffers.
I
love
to
see
all
my
co-stars
feel
equally
for
the
story.
I
am
done
with
films
where
I
survive
with
gimmickry.
Even
in
a
film
like
Pooja
Bhatt's
Rog
where
I
had
to
fall
in
love
with
a
woman
in
a
photograph
I
felt
challenged.
On
the
other
hand,
some
films
where
I've
worked
in
an
ensemble
cast
where
I've
just
tried
to
draw
attention
to
myself."
Currently,
Irrfan
is
in
the
process
of
completing
two
ensemble
films
Krazzy
Four
and
Sunday.
"Now
I"m
longing
to
work
with
Sriram
Raghavan,
Pradeep
Sarkar
and
Rakeysh
Mehra."