Vishal Bhardwaj reschedules upcoming project with Irrfan, Deepika; says, 'will start when our warrior returns'

Vishal Bhardwaj has announced the postponement of his next project with Irrfan Khan and Deepika Padukone in light of Irrfan’s battle with neuroendocrine tumour.

The director, who has collaborated with Irrfan Khan repeatedly such as in Maqbool and Haider, said, “Irrfan is a warrior and we know he will conquer this battle. Therefore @deepikapadukone, Prernaa @kriarj and I have decided to reschedule our film and start with renewed energy and celebration when our warrior returns as a winner,” in his tweet.

As expected, Bollywood had stepped up to support and protect Irrfan Khan, who has been diagnosed with a rare disease, after he revealed the unfortunate news through a cryptic tweet initially and later revealed in an emotional tweet that he has been diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour and would be leaving the country for the treatment. His tweet had ended with a hopeful, “To those who waited for my words, I hope to be back with more stories to tell.”

Quelling further speculations and unwanted rumours, Irrfan’s wife had also said, “My best friend and my partner is a ‘warrior,’ he is fighting every obstacle with tremendous grace and beauty. I apologize for not answering calls messages, but I want all of you to know I am truly humbled indebted forever for the wishes prayers and concern from all over the world. I am grateful to God and my partner for making me a warrior too,” in a Facebook post.

His co-star Deepika Padukone was also reported to have reacted to the news of Irrfan’s diagnosis and said, “Like he has requested, there are times when people just need to be left alone for sometime and figure their lives out. And I think we should respect that space that he has requested. Like he said, let’s hope for the best,” as reported by Divazmedia.