I'm just beguiled by Irrfan's magic eyes: Tom Hanks

By Bedika
New Delhi, Jan 5 (PTI) Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks
believes his "Inferno" co-star Irrfan Khan has a physicality
which is very endearing.
Hanks is returning in the shoes of Symbologist Robert
Langdon for another adventure in director Ron Howard's big
screen adaptation of Dan Brown's "Inferno" where the Indian
star, 48, will play the role of Harry "The Provost" Sims, the
head of a mysterious organisation, the Consortium.
"I'm just beguiled by his magic eyes. He has a
physicality
to him that is so specific and endearing," Hanks said about
Irrfan at Sony's press event in Cancun, Mexico.
The 59-year-old actor was yet to shoot his scenes with
Irrfan while promoting the movie in Mexico last June but he
was all praise for the Indian star.
"We're a bit frustrated because I have a number of very
huge scenes to work with Irrfan, but we haven't gotten to them
yet and, as it is now, we've done, I don't know, six or seven
scenes with him and he's only had one line to say. So, I
wonder if he can actually string together more than a few
phrases. I'm confident that he can, but that will remain to be
seen," Hanks said.
The director, however, assured fans that Irrfan has
important scenes in the movie.
"We've done a few scenes where he does nothing but talk.
Tom just hasn't been in those yet," he said, to which Hanks
quipped, "Yeah, I call those, 'days off'."
Howard said Irrfan had specifically asked about Sims role
when he first spoke to him.
"His value is his artistry. He's a tremendous actor and
I've been a fan for a long time. And when I spoke to him about
the movie, he specifically asked about the role of Sims.
"Now, Irrfan does not fit the description of the
character
as written in the book, but his case for himself, his creative
ideas about playing Sims completely won me over and he's an
absolute pleasure to work with and incredibly intelligent,"
said Howard.
The movie will release on October 14 this year.
Sony Pictures India recently released a picture of Irrfan
and Hanks together.
Hanks and Howard have previously worked together on "The
Da Vinci Code" as well as Brown's "Angels and Demons".
"Inferno", as the name suggests, revolves around Italian
poet Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy". In the film, Langdon
is racing against time to solve the mystery hidden in Dante's
poetry to save the world from a deadly artificial plague.
The movie also stars British actress Felicity Jones, Ben
Foster, Omar Sy and Sidsey Babett Knudsen. PTI BK
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