I'll play the elderly Pi: Adil Hussain

While Irrfan is flying to Taiwan in two days, Adil Hussain, who is already in Taiwan now, will play Pi���������s father in Ang Lee���������s adaptation of Martel���������s ���������Life Of Pi
Though it has been reported that Irrfan Khan is going to play Pi���������s father in Ang Lee���������s adaptation of Yann Martel���������s ���������Life Of Pi���������, fact is that Irrfan wasn���������t even being considered for this part.The actor had been approached for the role of an elderly Pi. Newcomer Suraj Sharma has been cast in the role of the younger Pi.
Irrfan, who has just returned from abroad, confirmed the news saying, ���������Yes, I will play the elderly Pi.��������� Irrfan had met Ang Lee while shooting for ���������In Treatment���������. ���������Back then, I just couldn���������t communicate much with him because I was in a completely different state of mine. Lest he misunderstand me, I told him that the reason for my reticence. He said, life is all about that. I was in a space where I was finding the whole experience of my life falling short of giving me inspiration to play my role in ���������IT���������.
The kind of films Ang Lee does and the way he casts his actors, I am sure he understood what I was going through. Ang Lee is a pure storyteller. He is very focussed. For the last Chinese film that he did, he cast one young girl out of at least 10,000. That���������s the way Ang Lee functions. Ang Lee has cast a 16-year-old young boy from Delhi as Pi. I will be leaving for Taiwan in two days time to prepare for my role,��������� Irrfan says.
As for the role of Pi���������s father, the buzz doing the rounds is that the role has gone to Adil Hussain. Adil, who made his Bollywood debut with ���������Ishqiya���������, was recently in the news for having replaced Irrfan in ���������Gangor���������. He has also acted with Saif Ali Khan in ���������Agent Vinod���������. Says a source, ���������Adil is in Taiwan now with Ang Lee. Tabu, who plays Pi���������s mother in the film, must have either left for Taiwan or will be leaving for Taiwan soon.��������� Pie in the sky
Delhi-based Adil Hussain apparently met up with Ang Lee in the first week of November in Mumbai. In between, other Indian actors were also in serious consideration to play this part. ���������However, the final decision was to cast Adil to play this Gujarati character because he and Tabu looked quite a good pair for the role of Pi���������s parents. A lot of local actors from Pondicherry have also been cast in the film since it. The film has innumerable small characters and most of them have already been cast. But they are not any reputed actors from Bollywood,��������� says a source.
Lee���������s film also has a character of a Frenchman. Rumour has it that talks are on with G������rard Depardieu of ���������Coco��������� and ���������La Vie en Rose��������� fame to play this role. ���������The decision to cast G������rard will be taken in another few days. While the crew is mostly from abroad, the costumes are being done by an Indian designer,��������� the source adds.
Shooting for the 3D film will begin in Pondicherry on January 19 and will continue till February 4. Thereafter, the unit will shift to Munnar to shoot for four days. Martel���������s book is a magical adventure centered on Pi Patel, the precocious son of a zookeeper in Pondicherry. During a move to Canada, they are shipwrecked, setting survivor Pi afloat.