Vishal Bhardwaj has revealed that his late friend Irrfan was sceptical about his decision to cast Saif Ali Khan as Langda Tyagi in Omkara and thought he was a better fit for the character.The director recounted what Irrfan told him after he got to know that he had roped in Saif to play Langda Tyagi in the 2006 movie, adapted from William Shakespeare’s Othello.”For the role of Langda Tyagi, you have Saif play the part and it will be a huge deal if he even agrees to cut his hair. I should be doing this part. But by then, Saif was locked and it (shoot) had happened. I think if Irrfan had done it (played Langda Tyagi), it would have been something else entirely,” Bhardwaj said.He was speaking at a session post the special screening of A Story That Refused to Die, a documentary on Irrfan’s film Paan Singh Tomar.Though Irrfan did not feature in “Omkara”, the second instalment of the director’s acclaimed Shakespearean trilogy, he headlined the first movie Maqbool (2003) and played a pivotal part in the third film Haider (2014).Bhardwaj said Irrfan initially declined to play the small role in “Haider”.”I told him to read it as it is about Kashmir and it is a film about politics. Irrfan was a very politically aware person and he later said, ‘This film should be made and I will do this part’,” he recalled.According to Bhardwaj, both he and Irrfan had their fare share of disagreements.Once, the filmmaker didn’t speak to the actor for over two years after they had a misunderstanding over “Ishqiya” (2010), which Bhardwaj had produced.The ice finally broke during 7 Khoon Maaf, when Bhardwaj approached Irrfan and he immediately agreed to be part of it. In the 2011 movie, the actor essayed the role of the third husband of the protagonist, Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes (Priyanka Chopra Jonas).”For the role, I couldn’t think of anyone but Irrfan. So when I called him up, he said, ‘I was waiting for your call for a very long time. I don’t want to listen to the role, I want to persuade you, so I’ll do anything that you give me.’ He was such a lovely soul,” the filmmaker said.For Bhardwaj, Irrfan’s absence continues to be deeply felt, especially whenever he conceives a new idea. A Story That Refused to Die, the documentary on Irrfan’s 2012 film, Paan Singh Tomar, captures the making of the biographical drama, Irrfan’s process, and behind-the-scene moments from the shoot.Directed by Ranjeeta Kaur and produced by Angad Films and Tigmanshu Dhulia Films, the documentary was screened on the sixth death anniversary of Irrfan at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre.