Daily Times

Irrfan Khan is undergoing treatment but he is in good spirits, says his ‘Blackmail’ director Abhinay Deo, who met the actor after his announcement that he is suffering from a ‘rare disease’. Khan on Friday revealed he has neuroendocrine tumour, described as rare and can occur anywhere in the body. Most neuroendocrine tumours occur in the lungs, appendix, small intestine, rectum and pancreas. They can be non-cancerous or malignant. However, Khan has not yet revealed which stage of the condition he is suffering or whether it is malignant or not.

His condition has kept him away from the promotions of his upcoming film Blackmail, and even filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has postponed the shoot of his next with him and Deepika Padukone.

Deo told the media at a song launch for the film in Mumbai on Friday: “I met [Khan]. He is fine and in good spirits… That, of course, we know that he is not well…. So I think he is right now away for his treatment and we should respect the family and their privacy on this particular matter.

“I don’t have anything more to share with you. Till now we know as much as you know.”

The Blackmail team, including Kirti Kulhari, Divya Dutta, Arunoday Singh and Omi Vaidya were present at the promotional event where the song Badla was launched. Dutta, who has worked with Khan in four films, spoke on her experience of working with him.

“I have done about four films with him. When I first met him on the sets of Dubai Return [2005], I got to know what Irrfan Khan is all about. We would not rehearse and he would give very charming smiles and say, ‘We will see it in the shot’. And during the shot, the magic he would create and improvise, I think it is a treat for actors.

“Acting is all about reactions, and when you have someone like Irrfan Khan in front of you, one doesn’t really need to work hard. I am really waiting for him to come back and give us some more magical films,” she added.

Blackmail is a black comedy drama film, co-produced and directed by Deo. The film releases in India on April 6. a

Published in Daily Times, March 19^th 2018.