A rare behind-the-scenes video from Irrfan Khan‘s unreleased directorial project ‘Alvida’ has gone viral on social media after his wife Sutapa Sikdar shared it on Instagram. The BTS offered fans an intimate glimpse into the late actor’s largely unknown journey as a filmmaker.

Sutapa Sikdar shares the emotional throwback

Sharing the footage on Instagram, Irrfan Khan’s wife, Sutapa Sikdar, wrote, “Irrfan and I produced this little gem. A leprosy film I wrote, and Irrfan turned it into a beautiful love story.”She also revealed a then-newcomer Nawazuddin Siddiqui‘s humble presence on set, adding, “@nawazuddin._siddiqui was very new to the industry at that time. I remember him saying ‘ji ji’ at everything… our junior from NSD. It was a small setup, big dreams, bigger passion.”The text featured within the viral video offered a deeper context into Irrfan’s directorial philosophy. It read, “He had a strong vision. And contrary to many directors I met at that time in television, he believed in less.”

More about the film ‘Alvida’

Originally conceived as a story about leprosy, the late actor reimagined it as a love story. As the video’s narration noted, “So very few people know that Irrfan directed Nawazuddin Siddiqui. He was new, fresh, and to date my most favourite performance of Nawaz!”Nawazuddin himself has previously confirmed the significance of this project, telling The Times of India, “Not many know that it was Irrfan who first directed me as an actor in a film called Alvida in 2000. It was my first film as a lead actor and his as a director… Had he done that, he would be as successful a filmmaker as he was as an actor.”

More about Irrfan Khan

Irrfan Khan passed away on April 29, 2020, at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. The actor was 53. He died due to a colon infection while battling a neuroendocrine tumour, a condition he was initially diagnosed with in March 2018.His final theatrical release was ‘Angrezi Medium’, which arrived in cinemas in March 2020 shortly before his passing.