Tisca Chopra opens up on how Irrfan stopped her from quitting acting

Tisca Chopra said she contemplated quitting acting owing to lack of substantial roles in her initial days of struggle. However, it was her Qissa co-star Irrfan Khan who had nudged her in the right direction and gave her the right kind of challenges to stay at her battle.

Mumbai: Tisca Chopra worked with the late Irrfan Khan in the critically acclaimed film Qissa besides in TV projects. She says Irrfan pushed her in the right direction during her initial days of struggle.

"As I was struggling in the nineties and feeling disheartened, I would say that I wanted to quit acting because there was nothing that I could get from here, especially substantial work that I was looking forward to. I remember Tishu (Tigmanshu Dhulia) and Irrfan were there, and Irrfan promptly said, 'dekh lo, kaise har maan rahi hai, acting chhod dena hai? Theek hai, chhod de, lekin yaad rakh, apne tarike se aage badhne ke liye, himmat chahiye hoti hai… guts chahiye, guts!'" Tisca recalled, speaking to IANS.

According to the actor, Irrfan gave DVDs of films like Bullets Over Broadway and Once Upon A Time In America and it was like a task for her to watch and understand these films.

Subsequently, Irrfan produced a segment of the TV show, Star Bestsellers, titled Hum Saath Saath Hain Kya? that was written by his wife Sutapa Sikdar and directed by Dhulia. He cast Tisca in the segment.

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  We build castles upon bubbles- and then soundlessly the bubble bursts.. Like it did today, taking away so much.. Irrfan was more than a friend.. so much more.. he was an inspiration. He lit in me a fire to do work at the best level in the world .. When he walked the Red Carpet at the Oscars for Slumdog, I remembered what he had said one rainy Mumbai evening while shooting- ‘Acting acting hai! Woh log (American actors) koi alag thodi na hain. Mehnat karo, achcha kaam karo- bas! Hollywood yahan aa jayega.’ #Irrfan and @tigmanshu_d are responsible for me not giving up acting. I had done a few hindi films and didn’t see myself doing more of those. I was ready to give up and look for something else to do. Just then I got a chance to do #EkShaamKiMulakaat with Irrfan. It was a great success .. He was convinced I must act. So much so, he produced another #BestSeller and immediately cast me #HumSaathSaathHainKya which his very talented wife @sikdarsutapa wrote. He gave me dvds of #Fargo (the film) and #BulletsOverBroadway (Woody Allen), urging me to start the journey of watching international cinema.. He loved #OnceUponATimeInAmerica .. he called me twice to make sure I had seen it .. We worked together again in #Qissa. So many wintry evenings in Punjab - eating, laughing, drinking and making merry.. Irrfan, the foodie, would get the locals to get him food from their homes - kebabs and parathas and jalebis and tempt the rest of us to jump in.. He would forever be watching films in his room. He got us to see #ASeparation that was his copy from the Academy .. He fought hella fight against his ailment, and with such dignity. What feels the saddest is that we were just beginning to see his brilliance. He still had so many stories to tell, so many roles to play.. But wherever he is, he will raise the bar with quiet resilience and a cheeky smile .. Love and prayers dearest Irrfan .. you will stay in my heart and life forever .. Babil, Ayan Sutapa - Love and prayers .. #IrrfanKhan #RIP

  A post shared by Tisca Chopra (@tiscaofficial) on Apr 29, 2020 at 6:31am PDT

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  View this post on Instagram

  We build castles upon bubbles- and then soundlessly the bubble bursts.. Like it did today, taking away so much.. Irrfan was more than a friend.. so much more.. he was an inspiration. He lit in me a fire to do work at the best level in the world .. When he walked the Red Carpet at the Oscars for Slumdog, I remembered what he had said one rainy Mumbai evening while shooting- ‘Acting acting hai! Woh log (American actors) koi alag thodi na hain. Mehnat karo, achcha kaam karo- bas! Hollywood yahan aa jayega.’ #Irrfan and @tigmanshu_d are responsible for me not giving up acting. I had done a few hindi films and didn’t see myself doing more of those. I was ready to give up and look for something else to do. Just then I got a chance to do #EkShaamKiMulakaat with Irrfan. It was a great success .. He was convinced I must act. So much so, he produced another #BestSeller and immediately cast me #HumSaathSaathHainKya which his very talented wife @sikdarsutapa wrote. He gave me dvds of #Fargo (the film) and #BulletsOverBroadway (Woody Allen), urging me to start the journey of watching international cinema.. He loved #OnceUponATimeInAmerica .. he called me twice to make sure I had seen it .. We worked together again in #Qissa. So many wintry evenings in Punjab - eating, laughing, drinking and making merry.. Irrfan, the foodie, would get the locals to get him food from their homes - kebabs and parathas and jalebis and tempt the rest of us to jump in.. He would forever be watching films in his room. He got us to see #ASeparation that was his copy from the Academy .. He fought hella fight against his ailment, and with such dignity. What feels the saddest is that we were just beginning to see his brilliance. He still had so many stories to tell, so many roles to play.. But wherever he is, he will raise the bar with quiet resilience and a cheeky smile .. Love and prayers dearest Irrfan .. you will stay in my heart and life forever .. Babil, Ayan Sutapa - Love and prayers .. #IrrfanKhan #RIP

  A post shared by Tisca Chopra (@tiscaofficial) on Apr 29, 2020 at 6:31am PDT

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  View this post on Instagram

  We build castles upon bubbles- and then soundlessly the bubble bursts.. Like it did today, taking away so much.. Irrfan was more than a friend.. so much more.. he was an inspiration. He lit in me a fire to do work at the best level in the world .. When he walked the Red Carpet at the Oscars for Slumdog, I remembered what he had said one rainy Mumbai evening while shooting- ‘Acting acting hai! Woh log (American actors) koi alag thodi na hain. Mehnat karo, achcha kaam karo- bas! Hollywood yahan aa jayega.’ #Irrfan and @tigmanshu_d are responsible for me not giving up acting. I had done a few hindi films and didn’t see myself doing more of those. I was ready to give up and look for something else to do. Just then I got a chance to do #EkShaamKiMulakaat with Irrfan. It was a great success .. He was convinced I must act. So much so, he produced another #BestSeller and immediately cast me #HumSaathSaathHainKya which his very talented wife @sikdarsutapa wrote. He gave me dvds of #Fargo (the film) and #BulletsOverBroadway (Woody Allen), urging me to start the journey of watching international cinema.. He loved #OnceUponATimeInAmerica .. he called me twice to make sure I had seen it .. We worked together again in #Qissa. So many wintry evenings in Punjab - eating, laughing, drinking and making merry.. Irrfan, the foodie, would get the locals to get him food from their homes - kebabs and parathas and jalebis and tempt the rest of us to jump in.. He would forever be watching films in his room. He got us to see #ASeparation that was his copy from the Academy .. He fought hella fight against his ailment, and with such dignity. What feels the saddest is that we were just beginning to see his brilliance. He still had so many stories to tell, so many roles to play.. But wherever he is, he will raise the bar with quiet resilience and a cheeky smile .. Love and prayers dearest Irrfan .. you will stay in my heart and life forever .. Babil, Ayan Sutapa - Love and prayers .. #IrrfanKhan #RIP

  A post shared by Tisca Chopra (@tiscaofficial) on Apr 29, 2020 at 6:31am PDT

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"He gave me the right kind of challenges for an actor to stay at my battle. Along with him, Tigmanshu and few more people gave me the scope to overall challenge the scene of entertainment. He was surely instrumental in my career," shared Tisca.

Irrfan passed away on April 29 in Mumbai, at the age of 53, due to colon infection. While the sudden demise of the actor left the film industry shocked and sadden, Tisca said: "Now that few days have gone by, emotionally I am in a better stage. I am talking and thinking why so many people reacted to Irrfan's demise as a personal loss. I think, even if you do not know him personally, through his acting, he showed us expressions that we usually reserve for our family, friends and intimate people."

She added: "As an actor he had the courage to show us that vulnerability. So even as an audience when you watch his film, through his performance you experience the story along with those characters. You, as an audience did not look at Irrfan, you looked with him at the world of that story. That is why it is intimate. That is why Irrfan belonged to his audience. That is why his demise is very personal to the audience. Of course, we are his close people! It is devastating for us."

With inputs from IANS