Boman Irani says Haiwaan is no cut-paste of Priyadarshan's Oppam

Boman Irani opened up about working with Priyadarshan on Haiwaan and said the filmmaker has approached the thriller independently rather than simply recreating Oppam. In an exclusive conversation with India Today, the actor also praised Saif Ali Khan for taking on the challenge of playing a visually challenged character.Boman Irani has said that Priyadarshan is not simply “cut-pasting” his 2016 Malayalam thriller Oppam while making Haiwaan. The actor, who is part of the upcoming thriller alongside Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan, said Priyadarshan may have retained the premise that interested him but has approached the new film differently.Speaking about whether he had watched Oppam before working on Haiwaan, Boman said the filmmaker had initially discouraged the actors from doing so. Mohanlal in a still from Oppam. “He refused to let us see it. None of us had watched it. But I did watch some of it later, without his permission and, of course, it’s completely different,” he said. Boman explained that he had also consciously avoided watching too much of the original because he did not want it to influence his own performance.“Also, I didn’t want to be influenced by it because I might have gone in that direction. But what I understood, plain and simple, is that the man is not cut-pasting. He isn’t thinking, ‘That worked there, so it will work here.’ I don’t think he is depending on that. He likes the premise, the story and the situation, and that is what excites him enough to make the film,” he added. The actor also spoke at length about Priyadarshan’s filmmaking process and why an actor’s rehearsals can often change once they arrive on his set.“Clarity for me is very, very important. Because if you come onto the set, you’ve got to be prepared. You may be rehearsing in your van or at home, but in this film, the characters are set up for their conflict. There is a lot of exposition and a lot of information,” Boman said.He added that Priyadarshan’s understanding of the camera often changes the way a scene ultimately plays out.“I can rehearse something 500 times the way I want to do it, but I go on the set and he’ll say, ‘No, I’d rather you don’t take this sombre approach. Take a more casual approach. I’d rather you don’t take an emotional approach; take a slightly more aggressive approach.’ What you rehearse does not matter once you come onto the set,” he said.Calling Priyadarshan a “master” of visual storytelling, Boman continued, “The joy of working with Priyan sir is that he is a master at understanding the lens, the camera, the actor’s face, the movement of the camera and using the ambience around him. What more can you ask for? You just enjoy the magic unfolding in front of your eyes.”He also revealed that the filmmaker essentially edits scenes in his head while shooting them. “He knows when to cut a line. So, he is editing as we go along, in his head. I think it’s a joy. It’s a joy. People should consider themselves lucky,” Boman said.Asked what convinced him to come on board, the actor responded with humour: “He said he wanted a very good-looking man, so I accepted! This is a no-brainer, no? I mean, come on, man. It’s a no-brainer. Priyan sir wants me; I’m very happy to go. Plus, these (Saif and Akshay) two wonderful guys are coming back together in a thriller. No-brainer.”Boman also spoke about his scenes with Saif Ali Khan and the challenge the latter faced while playing a visually challenged man in the film.“Saif and I had the better part of our work together. And I think all those questions may have helped because, if you put yourself in Saif’s shoes, playing a blind man is a territory where, with your eyes open, you have to imagine there is nothing in front of you,” he said.He continued, “Acting is about imagination, and you have to imagine that there is nothing in front of you. It must be very difficult. I’ve never played a blind man, so I’m sure there would have been some nervousness on his (Saif’s) part. Hence, the questions were flying. It’s a new territory for him. He has never played a blind man before, and he is playing this very unusual character.”Boman further explained that an actor asking questions on set should not necessarily be seen as insecurity, but as part of the search for the right performance.“They are looking for the right way to say the right line. They are searching for it. We may not have all the answers. We may rehearse it differently. But when you have a director who is absolutely sure, you gain confidence from him,” he said. “There are a thousand ways to play it, but there is only one right way to play it. And that can scare you. So, a director who empathises with that situation will always have a good relationship with an actor,” he added.Praising Saif’s work in the film, Boman concluded, “I think it was very nice to see the way he responded to Pradhan (Boman’s character), as somebody who was his mentor and whom he respected dearly. He kept asking me questions as a character, out of that respect. He also maintained a certain distance from the character because it is a mentor-mentee relationship. I think he has done a wonderful job in this film.”Haiwaan brings Priyadarshan, Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan together for the thriller, with Boman Irani playing a key role in the film.- EndsPublished By: shweta keshriPublished On: Sep 3, 2026 17:17 IST