Would've been impossible to make 'Doob...' without Irrfan: Director

Mumbai: "Doob: No Bed of Roses", Bangladesh's Oscar entry in the best foreign language film category, would not have been possible without Indian actor Irrfan Khan, says the movie's director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki.

The 2017 bilingual drama stars Irrfan, who has also co-produced it.

Irrfan, who is currently undergoing treatment for neuroendocrine tumour in London, is extremely happy that the Bangladesh Oscar Committee has chosen "Doob" to represent the country at the Academy Awards.

The actor's spokesperson said in a statement on Irrfan's behalf: "It is an honour to be recognised by the jury and he is delighted that his film is getting the much deserved acknowledgement at long last."

Farooki said: "I am happy because 'No Bed of Roses' is representing Bangladesh at the Oscars. I hope the film would find some love from the Academy voters. As for my collaboration with Irrfan, it would have been impossible to make this film without his involvement as an actor and co-producer.

"I share a wonderful relation with him, on and off the set. I call him 'poet' and he jokingly corrects me saying 'I'm a poet with no words'. In this film, he actually expressed so many things with very little help of words and I am glad to have collaborated with one of the finest actors of not just India, but the world."

In the movie, Irrfan plays a successful filmmaker facing a midlife crisis when he has a tryst with his daughter's childhood friend, causing a national scandal.

The film walked on a path full of thorns as it was banned in Bangladesh on the grounds that it might be based on revered real-life author and filmmaker Ahmed, who divorced his wife of 27 years and married an actress 33 years his junior.

The ban was eventually lifted and the film released in October 2017 in Bangladesh, France, India and Australia.