Irrfan is a warrior and we know he will conquer this battle: Vishal Bhardwaj.

Mumbai: Ace filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj took to Twitter Monday morning to announce the postponement of one of his upcoming films starring Irrfan Khan and Deepika Padukone.

The Haider helmer tweeted: “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. (sic).”

For the unversed, Irrfan has been diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Tumour, a rare disease. He has flown abroad for treatment.

Explaining his health condition a few days back, Irrfan quoted Margaret Mitchell and tweeted: “Life is under no obligation to give us what we expect.” 

“As for the rumours that were floated NEURO is not always about the brain and googling is the easiest way to do research To those who waited for my words, I hope to be back with more stories to tell,” he said in the tweet.

Last month, director Vishal Bhardwaj had announced that he would reschedule his film featuring Deepika and Irrfan because both the leading actors were unwell. Then, even Irrfan wasn’t aware of the exact cause of his illness.

Bhardwaj had posted: “I am pushing back the film by a few months as both of my lead actors are down with different health problems. Irrfan is down with jaundice and it will take him a few weeks to recover and Deepika Padukone’s back problem which had previously developed during the shooting of Padmaavat has now resurfaced. Her role in the film is very physically demanding and the doctor has advised her not to do any strenuous work for a couple of months.

In the past few weeks, I felt like I was back in the days of Maqbool while prepping with them. Deepika and Irrfan’s look tests have come out exceptionally well, nothing like you’ve seen before, and it took me a moment to recognize them when I saw the test photographs.

I want both of them to be strong and fit before we start the film. I would also like to clear that the film is still untitled and is not based on Rahima Khan/Sapna Didi’s life. Yes, it’s a takeoff from the story Femme Fatale from Hussain Zaidi’s book Mafia Queens of Mumbai but as we worked on this idea, the story and screenplay have taken on a new identity and shape which is nowhere close to the above-mentioned names. Hence, it’s definitely not a biopic.(sic).