The Night Manager actress Tillotama Shome on Irrfan: ‘He has given me a lot, I am lucky’

Actress Tillotama Shome is gaining popularity, and receiving a lot of appreciation for all her recent performances, including Disney+ Hoystar’s The Night Manager, which also stars Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sobhita Dhulipala. As the second part of the show is set to release, the actress has been speaking about her role in the new season. In a recent interview, she also opened up about her equation with the late actor Irrfan Khan, who she said had encouraged her to return to acting, and she eventually found her path in the journey as an artiste.

Reminiscing about Irrfan, Tillotama told ETimes, “It was during the screening of Namesake in New York and we met there for the first time. He had that uncanny quality to look through me and he could look right within me and he realised that I was very unhappy and my honeymoon period with America was over. He said, ‘Come back’, and I did come back. I have to say, he has given me a lot, he has given all of us so much. The body of work he has, the diversity of roles he played and that I was so lucky to have so many opportunities to work with him.”

Talking about one of the most special lessons she learnt from the iconic actor, Tillotama said, “For me, the most precious thing was that I could play his son in the film Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost and I had so many opportunities to learn. What I have learnt from him and Anoop Singh (the director) on the set of Qissa are tools that I can use in any film. Every time I use one of those tools, I thank Irrfan and Anoop and I keep him alive. Every time I talk to a tree and see a bird, or when the bird stops for me and the flower blooms for me, when I get to walk in a beautiful forest, when I get to experience the vastness of the Universe I feel like I am talking to Irrfan; because that was what I learnt from him. He was not just concerned with the material. He was having a larger conversation. He was so aware of things around him.”

The actress made her debut in acting with Monsoon Wedding, and gained prominence with films like Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, Children of War, Hindi Medium, A Death in the Gunj and Angrezi Medium, among others. She also played pivotal roles in the web series Mentalhood, Delhi Crime and Tooth Pari: When Love Bites.

The Night Manager - Part 2 is releasing on Disney+ Hotstar on June 30.