Irrfan Khan prepares to play poet Sahir Ludhianvi

The very versatile Irrfan Khan is preparing to plunge into the part of poet par excellence Sahir Ludhianvi in new director Jasmeet Reens bio-pic. In fact Irrfan has been in preparation for the role for nearly two years now, catching up with Sahirs lyrics on his I-Pod and reading up as much as he could about the man, the poet and the lover.

For a while it was rumoured that Farhan Akhtar may take over the part. "Why go by rumours? It was even rumoured that Arjun Kapoor was to play Sahir Ludhianvi! It was always Irrfan. His sensitivities and his personality suit the part," says someone close to the project.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali who co-produces the Sahir bio-pic with Arshi Dua also approves of Irrfan as Sahir. "In fact Bhansali wanted Irrfan to do the voiceover for Bajirao Mastani. Irrfan immediately agreed and asked for the technical team to come to Jaisalmer where he is shooting. Within two hours he completed the entire voiceover. He refused payment for the voiceover," says a source.