By: Entertainment DeskMumbai | September 20, 2025 05:26 PM IST 3 min readVishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool is considered a landmark film for many reasons. Not just in terms of cinematic legacy, but also for the careers of the actors associated with it. For Irrfan Khan, despite having delivered a series of layered, masterful performances over the years, Maqbool remains a defining moment, with many still calling it his finest work. The film, adapted from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, brought together a powerhouse of talent, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Om Puri, Tabu, Piyush Mishra, and even gave space to newer names at the time, like Deepak Dobriyal, who despite limited screen time, made his presence felt.In an exclusive conversation with SCREEN, Deepak Dobriyal fondly recalled his experience of working on Maqbool and learning from the veterans on set. He also shared a candid behind-the-scenes anecdote that highlighted Irrfan’s intense commitment to his craft. “There was a scene where Kaka (Piyush Mishra) gets killed, and his body is brought to Irrfan bhai’s house,” Dobriyal recalled. “As Irrfan bhai starts mourning, someone asks Om Puri saab where he found the body. And he says, ‘In the backyard of the haveli.’ But the way he pronounced ‘haveli’ made everyone laugh. The scene had to be cut. Vishal sir even told him, ‘There’s a bit of a Punjabi touch in your delivery.’”What followed was an impromptu comedy session. Deepak remembered how Om Puri began giving deliberately exaggerated Punjabi versions of the word haveli, and even Naseeruddin Shah joined in. “A lot of fun was going on,” he said. “But the scene wasn’t coming together. One after the other, many takes happened.” Irrfan, deeply immersed in the emotional intensity of the scene, was visibly affected by the repeated breaks. “You could see it was bothering Irrfan bhai. He was in character, fully present. But no one had the courage to say anything to Om ji or Naseer saab, they’re legends. And to be fair, their characters were written with a layer of humour.”Also Read | Manoj Bajpayee’s Jugnuma The Fable: A hypnotic plunge into a world where magical realism is both mirror and mythEventually, the tension broke. “In the middle of a take, Irrfan bhai just exploded. He abused, right there during the shot. Then immediately, he apologised and said, ‘Sorry, I thought abusing would help me act.’” Deepak Dobriyal added with a laugh, “Both of them froze. The set suddenly became serious, and from that moment, the tone was set. We got the shot, and there were no more issues.”Deepak Dobriyal was most recently seen in Jugnuma: The Fable, currently playing in theatres.Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd