Late actor Irrfan has left an incredible body of work behind. Every now and then, several actors recall memorable experiences of working with him. In an interview with Saurabh Dwivedi on The Lallantop, actor Shashank Arora opened up about his experience of working with Irrfan on their 2017 release, The Song of Scorpions, and revealed many interesting stories about his philosophical nature. When asked if he interacted with Irrfan off-set before they started working together, Shashank revealed, “Never. Met him for the first time on the sets. He asked, ‘Script jaanta hai (Have you memorised the script)?’ I said yes. He asked me to narrate his lines and I did that, and he did my lines. Our first rehearsal was like this, saying each other’s dialogues. Then, he said that I am putting my headphones on, once it’s time to shoot, then let me know. He was in pain at that time, wasn’t really doing well when we were shooting this film. He was having a difficult time.” Recalling an anecdote, the Made in Heaven actor said, “We were shooting in the desert, near the Pakistan-India border. It is very cold at night there. He was wearing a kurta pyjama. I have a very vivid and beautiful memory of shooting with him. He was a kind man, but he was in so much pain, I recall that period at times, rona bhi aata hai, acha bhi lagta hai, apne aap ko shabhashi deta hu ki waah, Irrfan sir ke saath acting ki (I feel like crying and also happy thinking I had the opportunity to act with him).” He continued, “Life is not a simple as that. One day, he asked me to take a bike and ride till the border so that we can fly kites. I asked him, ‘Kaahan tak (Till where)?’ He said, ‘I want to fly a kite crossing the border, let’s see who shoots the kite’. Producers were running after me and telling me not to do it. I asked them, ‘Kiski sunein (who shall I listen to)?’ He was a very interesting and well-rooted man. He never used to care about his hair or makeup. Naak mai ungli daali hai toh bhi nahi. There aren’t too many actors in our country who don’t care about these things,” Shashank said. Asked about the famous gulkand ka halwa that Irrfan used to make, Shashank answered, “Vo toh vo saath leke chale gaye recipe (He took it with him when he passed away). I am not that capable of cooking something like this. I had never even heard about something like this until he asked me on the sets, ‘Ae, Shashank, Gulkand ka halwa khaayega (Do you want to have rose petal pudding)?’ I said yes.” Shashank also narrated another anecdote that shifted his perspective about how films are consumed. “Two small boys came and stood there looking at us, we were at Pokhran. They said to me, ‘Inko kahin dekha hai (We’ve seen him somewhere)’. I said, ‘He is a famous actor, you might have seen him in films, maybe Lunchbox or Paan Singh Tomar. He then asked, ‘Tum kaun ho (who are you)?’ I said I am also an actor. ‘Dinosaur wali picture mai dekha hai (We’ve seen him in the dinosaur film). They had watched him in Jurassic World. That film would be shown in their village for months; no Hindi, no other regional film,” Shashank shared.