At a time when many Bollywood celebrities are trying to do more and more projects in the west, it comes as a surprise to hear that an actor has turned down a Hollywood film – especially a big-ticket one. Irrfan Khan, who has done quite a bit of work internationally (Life of Pi, Inferno), just rejected a Steven Spielberg film that would have him cast opposite Scarlett Johansson. It couldn’t have been easy to say no to that, but Khan has a reason:
It’s more than a dilemma for me to choose films and deny them, however I am at a stage in my career where I am trying my best to surprise my audience with every role and give them some variety and who wouldn’t want to work with a prestigious personality like Steven Spielberg! I am hoping the future holds something so path – breaking and so empowering for me as an artist that no will not be an option.The actor also said that he thought the character didn’t have enough meat for him as an actor, otherwise he wouldn’t say no to Spielberg.