Shoojit Sircar dedicates 'Sardar Udham' national award win to Irrfan Khan
Sircar said the team, including lead star Vicky Kaushal, were dedicating the honour to late actor Irrfan Khan, who was originally set to portray the central character.The director and Irrfan collaborated in the 2015 film 'Piku'. The actor passed away in April 2020 after a two year-long battle with a rare form of cancer, had to leave "Sardar Udham" as he was ailing.
«Me, my team, my producer Ronnie Lahiri, Sheel, Vicky Kaushal and the entire team (of 'Sardar Udham') want to dedicate this National award to the late Irrfan Khan,» Sircar told PTI in an interview.
«I miss him every day.
I missed him in this film but Vicky Kaushal gave one of his finest performances. He also dedicated his performance to Irrfan Khan.
Irrfan has created a vacuum in this industry and we are unable to digest the fact that he is not there. He is missed, that calibre of actor we need in the industry,» the filmmaker said.
The biopic, which released on Prime Video last year, tracks the life of the freedom fighter, who assassinated Michael O'Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in British India in 1940, to avenge the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
At the 69th National Film Awards, 'Sardar Udham' won Best Hindi Film, Best Cinematography (Avik Mukhopadhayay), Best Costume Designer (Veera Kapur Ee), Best Production Design (Dmitri Malich & Mansi Dhruv Mehta), and Best Audiography: Re-Recording (Final Mixing) (Sinoy Joseph).
Sircar said he is thrilled that his team has received recognition in several categories and thanked everyone for supporting the movie's mission.
«When you get multiple awards, it proves that cinema is a collaborative art, and you collaborate with people, with an artist, and different creative minds.
