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Updated 00:25 IST, January 7th 2024

This 1995 film starring Irrfan was banned by Censor Board

Adhura was a small-budget movie that was to be exclusively released as a telefilm, which was common back then in the early days of satellite TV in India.

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Irrfan
Irrfan | Image: Pinterest

January 7 marks the 57th birth anniversary of late actor Irrfan. The actor who passed away in April 2020 continues to be remembered as one of the greatest actors of Hindi cinema ever.  Irrfan came to prominence in Bollywood with his 2003 film Haasil, where he played the negative role. However, the actor had made his debut in movies as early as 1988, playing a small role in Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay, and supporting roles in films like Kamla Ki Maut and Ek Doctor Ki Maut. So for a  good 10-15 years, while the actor was a popular face on television, he struggled to achieve similar success in movies. Infact, one of his movies was even banned.

Irrfan in early days of his career | Image: Pinterest

Adhura was slated to release in 1995

Adhura was a 1995 small-budget movie that was produced to be exclusively released as a telefilm, which was a common practice in the early days of satellite television in India. In the film, Irrfan played a young journalist who falls in love with an industrialist (played by Ashish Balram Nagpal). 

Ashish Balram Nagpal, who was an artist by professional, was also directing the film which had a duration of 90 minutes. However, the censor board decided to pull the plug on the film after deeming it unworthy of public exhibition.

Irrfan played a queer character again, 13 years later

Years later, after Irrfan had attained significant popularity in Hindi cinema, the actor played a queer character in Mira Nair’s short film Migration, where Irrfan co-starred with Arjun Mathur.

Irrfan in a movie still | Image: Pinterest

Meanwhile, Adhura gradually found itself fading into oblivion even as Irrfan became a bigger star with each passing and some film-goers continued to hope for a release of Adhura on some digital platform. In a media interaction sometime in early 2010s, Irrfan did speak about Adhura, while talking about Migration, as he stated, “I don’t think it’s detrimental to my career to play such roles,” he said. “We are not laughing at gay people in film. What is important is the message.”

Meanwhile, Adhura is yet to see the light of day. 

Published 23:53 IST, January 6th 2024