Irrfan Khan, who was last seen in Homi Adajania’s Angrezi Medium, observed as one of the finest actors in Bollywood is no more with us. The actor passed away on Wednesday in Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital due to colon infection.
Irrfan’s last movie was Angrezi Medium which released digitally post coronavirus outbreak in the country. He could not promote his film due to health issues. However, he left a hopeful message for the fans.
Ahead of the trailer release, he shared an endearing video from all the moments he shared on the sets of the film. “Hello, Bhaiyyo aur Beheno! Namaskar! Main Irrfan. Main aaj aapke saath hoon bhi aur nahin bhi. Khair, yeh film Angrezi Medium mere liye bahut khaas hai. Sach, yekin maniya, meri dil ki khwahish thi ki iss film ko utne hi pyaar se promote karu jitne pyaar se hum logo ne banaya hai. Lekin, mere sharer ke andar kuch unwanted mehmaan baithe huye hain unse vartalap chal raha hai. Dekhte hai kis karwat uth baithta hai. Jaisa bhi hoga, aapko itelah kar diya jayega. Kahawat hai ‘When life gives you lemon, you make a lemonade’. Bolne mein accha lagta hai but sach mein jab zingagi aapke haath mein nimbu thambati hai na, toh shikanji banana bahut mushkil ho jata hai. Lekin, aapke paas aur choice bhi kya hai positive rehne ke alawa? Inn halat hai nimbu ki shikanji bana paate hai ki nahi bana pate hai, yeh aap par hai. Par hum sab ne iss film ko ussi positivity k saath banaya hai. Par mujhe umeed hai ki yeh film aapko sikhayegi, hasayegi, rulayegi, phir hasayegi shayad! (Hello, brothers and sisters. I am with you and not with you. This film, Angrezi Medium, is very special to me. I truly wanted to promote this film as passionately as we made it, but there are some ‘unwanted guests’ in my body and they’re keeping me busy. I’ll keep you informed on that front. There’s a saying, ‘when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.’ It feels good to hear, but when life really hands you lemons, making lemons is really difficult).”
This talented actor has not received fame overnight. He too struggled to get good roles in Bollywood. The most noteworthy of all is Mira Nair’s, Salaam Bombay.
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In 1986, when Mira Nair visited NSD (National School of Drama), she was looking for trained actors who could work with street kids in her upcoming film Salaam Bombay, a film based on the lives of street kids in Mumbai. She spotted Irrfan at the basement workshop of the college.
“I noticed his focus, his intensity, his very remarkable look – his hooded eyes. I clocked him,” she said to Anees Chhabra for his book Irrfan Khan, The Man, The dreamer, The Star.
It was a dream come true for him. He jumped on the offer and flew to Mumbai to attend the film’s workshop. He and actor Raghubhir Yadav stayed at a flat that Mira had rented. They, along with a few street kids, took part in workshops that were organised at the flat.
Mira thought of casting Irrfan as one of the street kids, Salim. However, the actor’s height and built couldn’t fit with the actual street kids, who were malnourished. “The rest of them were undernourished, wizened little children,” Mira said.
Irrfan was ahead of his batchmates when Mira picked him from NSD. He had already managed to do a feature film before passing out. Irrfan’s dreams shattered when Mira had to uncast him just two days before the shoot of Salaam Bombay. She, instead, gave him a small role in the film, which was practically nothing.
This incident drained him initially, but prepared him for the worst.
He said, “I remember sobbing all night when Mira told me that my part was reduced to merely nothing. But it changed something within me. I was prepared for anything after that.”
Mira gave a word to cast Irrfan in a lead role and she fulfilled her promise in the year 2006 with The Namesake. In the meantime, Irrfan struggled a lot. He did multiple, unfulfilling roles in television, and got his first solid role in a mainstream film in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool (2004). He received great reviews for his performance in the film.
Later, his extraordinary performance in The Namesake put him on the world map. The Namesake’s huge success in the US (it earned $ 20 million worldwide of which $ 13.6 million were in the US alone) helped him to grab other international projects like A Mighty Heart (2009), Slumdog Millionaire (2009), In Treatment (2010), the life-altering The Life Of Pi (2012), Jurassic World (2015), Inferno (2018) and more.
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By the end, Irrfan’s character dies in The Namesake and while everyone was happy with the actor’s performance in the film, his mother was upset with Mira. After the screening of The Namesake, she asked Irrfan to call Mira. She said, “Bula, usko bula. Usko mera baccha hee mila tha maarne ke liye?”
Born as Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan, he made his on-screen debut with ‘Haasil’ in 2003. In a short timeframe, Irrfan he made a mark both in Bollywood as well as Hollywood with his phenomenal acting talent. And since then, the 53-year-old actor stood out with his acting skill, choice of roles, and offbeat films.
The Maqbool actor, who was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour in 2018, lost his mother in Jaipur just four days ago. He was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital with a colon infection.
