Irrfan Khan ran almost 200 metres in a single take for the dark comedy “Blackmail” (2018) while secretly unwell, director Abhinay Deo has recalled in a video interview with SCREEN published on October 24, 2026.
Deo did not know about the actor’s condition at the time of the shoot. He thought Irrfan Khan was simply exhausted, since the demanding scene was filmed in the middle of the night and required the actor to sprint across the frame.
It was the third take of the shot when Irrfan spoke up. “Abhinay, this is the last take because after this, I might fall,” the actor said, according to Deo. The director took it as tiredness and moved on with the schedule.
A few days after the shoot ended, Deo learned the truth. Irrfan Khan had been diagnosed with cancer, a neuroendocrine tumour, and had kept the news to himself while working.
Deo stressed that nothing about Irrfan’s behaviour on set gave the illness away. The actor worked the night like any other, and the director had no reason to look twice at the fatigue.
Deo said the shoot itself gave no hint of what was coming. The crew worked through the night as planned, and Irrfan completed the demanding sequence across three takes before the unit moved on.
For Deo, the hardest part of the memory is the gap between what he saw and what he knows now. On the night, the request for a final take sounded like a tired actor managing his energy. Days later, it read as a man measuring what his body had left.
Irrfan Khan and the 200 metre run
The scene asked a great deal of its lead. Running almost 200 metres in one continuous shot is a punishing demand on any actor, and Deo said Irrfan Khan gave it everything he had across three takes without a word of complaint.
“Blackmail” is a 2018 dark comedy directed by Deo, with Irrfan Khan playing the lead. The 200 metre sprint was part of a physically demanding sequence in the film.
What makes the memory land harder is what Deo did not see. The actor never asked to stop, never flagged the pain, and treated the take like any other night of filming. Deo only understood later what the effort had cost him.
The director said the shoot ran through the night, which explained away the strain in his mind at the time. Tiredness seemed the obvious answer when Irrfan Khan said he might fall after one more take.
Once Deo learned of the diagnosis, the exchange read differently. The remark about falling after one more take had seemed like ordinary tiredness on the night; a few days later, he knew what had sat behind it.
The director has described the episode as a lesson in how little a set reveals. An actor can carry a serious illness through a physically brutal night of filming and give no sign beyond a single honest sentence about falling.
Irrfan Khan knew his days were numbered
Deo had discussed a sequel to “Blackmail” with the actor. When Irrfan’s health worsened, the director told him to get well and come back soon, reminding him they still had the second part to make.
Irrfan laughed it off. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll do,” he said. But Deo sensed something else underneath the easy reply. The actor, he felt, already knew his days were numbered.
The sequel was never made. Irrfan Khan died on April 29, 2020, at the age of 53, and the planned second part of “Blackmail” died with the plan.
Abhinay Deo’s Doosra releases in theatres
Deo has since moved on to new work. His film “Doosra”, a sports drama starring Plabita Borthakur, released in theatres on October 23, 2026.
The film draws its inspiration from India’s 2002 NatWest Trophy win at Lord’s, the famous one-day final. Borthakur leads the cast in the story built around that victory.
The SCREEN interview was published on October 24, 2026, a day after “Doosra” reached theatres.