Exclusive: Irrfan Khan preps to play judge for Netflix series

Tokyo Trial, a four-part series by Netflix, features Irrfan Khan in a very unusual role. It is a historical drama that focuses on a decade-long investigation into events in the Pacific during and after WWII.

Irrfan plays a judge at a trial in the film. Shedding light on his role he says, “It’s a character that I knew nothing about. It’s a real-life role of an Indian judge who presided at the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. This judge did not believe that putting individuals on trial for war crimes was a solution to eradicate it. He wanted to go to the root of the crimes.”

The actor is admittedly fascinated by the part. “I read up a lot on him but I haven’t based my performance on the man. When Van Kilmer played Jim Morrison in The Doors, he played the real man exactly the way he was. But Ben Kingsley played Gandhiji in his own way. Even my Paan Singh Tomar was not a replica of the real man.”