"Every film has its destiny.” This is what actor Irrfan would say to his director-friend Anup Singh. Their 2017 film, The Song of Scorpions, despite fabulous reception at international film festivals, struggled to find distributors in India. It was finally released here on April 28, a day before Irrfan’s third death anniversary. He died on April 29, 2020.
Expectedly, the Geneva-based filmmaker says it’s “strange” to not have the actor around to share the moment with. “Irrfan was keen that it be seen on the big screen in India while he was still around,” Singh recalls and adds that while the actor had been patient initially, the diagnosis of his neuroendocrine cancer made them all feel a little desperate.
The Song of Scorpions premiered at the 70th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland in 2017. For a year, it did the rounds of film festivals, gathering accolades for its direction, cinematography and nuanced performances by Irrfan and his Iranian co-star Golshifteh Farahani. Since then, the makers had been looking for an opportunity to release the film in India. Initially, it was the distributors that were hard to come by because it wasn’t considered mainstream enough. Then, once Panorama Spotlight and 70 MM Talkies came on board, the pandemic struck and the India release got delayed once again.
Singh collaborated with Irrfan for the first time for Qissa-The Tale of a Lonely Ghost. It was while working on the 2013 film that the filmmaker started seeing fragments of images and hearing a voice in his dreams. They eventually materialised as The Song of Scorpions, which is Singh’s response to the infamous Delhi rape case in 2012.
At the centre is the story of a young woman in Jaisalmer named Nooran (played by Farahani), who belongs to a community that believes in the healing power of song. How one chooses to deal with violence forms the crux of the film. “Do we confront violence with violence or can we find another way of freeing ourselves? Maybe with a song?” Singh asks.
Irrfan essays the role of a camel trader, Aadam, who is in love with Nooran. While Farahani’s name for the lead was recommended by the Maqbool star, Singh only had Irrfan in mind for Aadam.
ALSO READ | Irrfan in 'The Song of Scorpions': Extraordinarily Ordinary
“I wrote the character for him,” he says. Recalling the time the director went to him with the script, Singh adds, “At the end of the narration, he said, ‘You always bring me roles that I know I should not do and yet, I cannot not do them.’”
For most admirers of Irrfan, it was his piercing gaze that did the trick. Singh, who came out with the memoir, Irrfan: Dialogues with the Wind, last year, agrees. “His eyes look at you without exploiting or objectifying,” he says, but quickly adds, “What I admired about him, however, was the rhythm in his body—a lilt, a melody that varies from film to film. And, I wanted to push that just a little further.”
ALSO READ | Irrfan Khan leaves you with his hypnotic charm in 'The Song of Scorpions'
And, in The Song of Scorpions, Singh believes, Irrfan’s performance is different from what he has ever done before. “He really opened himself to what lay beyond the drama of the film. There is a larger expansive quality and melody of emotion that Irrfan brings, and it is a joy to see,” he says.
