Starry tales

Sheetal

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People are intrigued by celebs’ personal life and any inside story, be it about their pet’s eating habits or their relationship status. If there are tabloids to publish all the juicy stuff, then there are also authors who write about celebrities’ life but publish well-researched books for the interested readers. One such freelance writer and columnist based in New York, Aseem Chhabra has now come out with a book based on actor Irrfan Khan titled Irrfan Khan, The Man, The Dreamer, The Star. After penning biographies on actors Shashi Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra and now a book on Irrfan, Aseem’s key word to accomplish all of this is dedication. To aspiring writers, especially biographers, he says, “I think one needs to be dedicated enough to follow it through. Be ready to spend as much time as it takes to finish the project and do it sincerely.”

Talking about how Aseem approaches his project or new subject, he has no clear reply. He refrains from naming his upcoming projects and says, “It depends upon what the publishers want me to write about and there are lots of things involved before we finally select a project. I remember my first book on Sashi Kapoor was my personal choice because no book was written about him. For this one, among other things, what attracted me in Irrfan is a parallel career. He has also acted in Hollywood and is admired by the audience all over.”

Drawn from personal interviews and told through many voices, author Aseem says, “It took me a year and a half to write this one. I did a thorough research from watching his movies to reading all the articles written about him to talking to people in his close circle.”

What challenges did he face in writing 244 pages on Irrfan’s life, and Aseem answers, “The biggest challenge was that I started working on the book around the time Irrfan had shifted to London to get medical treatment for neuroendocrine tumour. While I was in touch with him in 2018, I was not able to interview him. But it helped that many directors, actors and friends of Irrfan were willing to talk to me.”

His first interaction with the phenomenal actor, Aseem says, “Was in the fall of 2006. I was in Queens, New York, when I took the call; the person at the other end was Irrfan. He had read a profile I had written on Mira Nair in which I mentioned I had seen The Namesake. I had attended the world premiere of the film at the Telluride Film Festival. Irrfan was in India and he had yet to see the film. So, he wanted to hear from me what I thought of the film. I told him that I loved it and his performance had made me cry.” Eventually, Aseem met him face-to-face when he came to New York the next year to promote A Mighty Heart and the rest is history, for the record, well documented.