Hindi Medium sees actors Irrfan Khan and Deepak Dobriyal come together after a long gap. The duo was last seen in Maqbool (2003), which was an intense drama. But what the two actors also share in common is an impeccable comic timing.

When you club the talent of two such versatile actors in one film, the expectations definitely go up significantly. So we caught up with Irrfan and Deepak to know more about their roles, working with director Saket Chaudhury and the chemistry that they share with each other.

Irrfan Khan

Irrfan Khan with Deepak Dobriyal (Right) in a scene from Hindi Medium

What drew you towards Hindi Medium?

Saket Chaudhary (Director) and the producers brought the script to me and I loved it from the start. I was looking for a comedy that had a message to it. I was looking for something which could be watched by parents and kids together. Also, I wanted to do a film with a subject that was relatable and Hindi Medium was a combination of everything, which is why I took it up.

Each role brings in its own excitement and challenges

Can you tell us something about your character and his relationship with his wife?

He doesn’t care that he doesn’t know how to speak English, he is okay with that and that is what I liked about him the most. He doesn’t have any complex about not knowing English; he is happy with Hindi because he has achieved success without knowing the English language. He has built his empire on his own will and he is proud of that. But his wife is a bit complex; she thinks that her husband should know English. She thinks that they should belong to a particular class, but he on the other hand, doesn’t care.

You have an immense body of work, yet after so many films, what excites you when a new role comes your way?

I don’t know what exactly excites me, it is just an instinct. When you read a role, you want to do it and there are so many reasons for that. I have never deciphered why that is, it is just that you get excited about it and you do it. Every role is not challenging, sometimes, some roles are challenging while sometimes they are just fun to do. At times, you don’t even prepare for the role and yet there are other characters that demand so much of preparation that even a year is not enough. So there are various factors and each role brings in its own excitement and challenges.

I was looking for something which could be watched by parents and kids together

Deepak Dobriyal

Deepak Dobriyal with Irrfan Khan in Hindi Medium

Can you tell us a bit about your character? In terms of comedy, is it similar to your character from Tanu weds Manu ?

I play the role of Irrfan Khan’s friend. Mine is an interesting character who helps Irrfan in the movie. As for comedy, that just happens. My role in Tanu weds Manu is very different from the one in Hindi Medium. Here, along with comedy there is a message and the comedy has various layers to it. It is not just comedy and moreover, I don’t want to do comedy for comedy’s sake. I want to stay in the character and create comedy; I want the scene to be formed around comedy. I want to do comedy that will make people laugh, entertain them and yet (it) has many layers to it.

How was your experience working with Saket Chaudhary?

It was extremely good; he is a sorted directed. He is very clear in his mind as to what he wants from his actors, what he wants them to do in a particular scene. Since he is so clear about what he wants, we end up taking fewer shots. As an actor, it helps when your director is clear about his goals.

Along with comedy there is a message and the comedy has various layers to it

You have worked with Irrfan Khan in Maqbool, which was a long time ago, how was it working with him after such a gap, how is your chemistry on and off screen?

It was great working with Irrfan again. The tuning between us was great in Hindi Medium as compared to Maqbool. From the day we started shooting, we established our tuning. The same happened off-screen as well, we would shoot and then go for screenings or dinners. So we bonded well both on and off screen.