3 minutes of readingBombayFebruary 3, 2026 06:05 pm IST
No one can forget the tragedy and uncertainty that the early days of the pandemic brought, and that sense of shock was almost doubled in late April, when two film industry veterans died within a day of each other: Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. The trauma was collective for the nation, as well as intensely personal for their loved ones. Fortunately, both of them had shared a screen once in Nikkhil Advani’s spy action film D-Day, released in 2013, where they delivered performances at the top of their craft. In fact, when they died, a photo of them from D-Day went viral on the Internet.
Recently, in an exclusive conversation with SCREEN, Advani reflected on how both the actors effortlessly bonded on the sets of the film. “The two hit it off instantly. Rishi Kapoor loved the chicken that Irrfan made, who really loved cooking, and they bonded very well when we were filming in the Rann of Kutch area.” However, Advani also said that they came from very different schools of acting. Irrfan loved to improvise, while Rishi was particular about sticking to his lines. Interestingly, this sometimes created friction, with Rishi occasionally getting frustrated with Irrfan’s improvisations.
“Irrfan had just come back from Ang Lee’s Life of Pi and he likes to improvise. He doesn’t like repeating the same thing over and over again because he’d think, ‘So what’s the point of doing another take?’ And Rishi Kapoor was the kind of person who would say: ‘Hit the target, yaar. Say the line, even line aaha. Your Oscar-winning actor home par bas mujhe bata dein ki your last words kaunse use karega? I’ve got my signal, I’m waiting for my signal.’ (Hit the mark. Say the line. You may be an Oscar-winning actor, but tell me what last words you’ll use. I’ve got my cue, I’m waiting for it.) He was in that old school brigade, so it was pretty fun to watch. “They were from different schools, but they really respected and admired each other during that week they filmed together.”
Watch the Cult Comebacks episode on D-Day here:
In the same conversation, Advani also reflected on how D-Day has found its fan base over time, even though it initially struggled at the box office. “Over the years, people text me saying it was brilliant, that it was the film that made me a filmmaker. But it was disheartening on the first day when it released for just Rs 1.75 crore, and I thought, ‘What the hell happened?'”
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