Irrfan Khan, a powerhouse of incredible acting
talent, passed away in a Mumbai hospital today morning leaving a vacuum in the
Hindi film industry, a loss irreparable. He was only 53, and had so much to
offer to the film lovers yet. There was disturbing
news circulating in 2018 about Irrfan contracting a serious disease which,
after months of distressed speculation, was confirmed as neuro-endocrine tumor,
one of the rarest forms of cancer. Since then he was fighting, fighting and
fighting. He got treatment in the US and then in London for months. He returned
to India a few months back, and could not take part in the promotion of his
last movie, Angrezi (English) Medium,
and the movie too could not be released due to the nation-wide lockdown. More saddening,
he lost his mother only a few days back and could not attend her last rites in
Jaipur, again due to the lockdown. Irrfan’s demise is a huge tragedy to strike
when the country is reeling under Coronavirus and lockdown.
The highlight of his 32-year career in the film
industry was the incredibly varied roles and characters he played in Bollywood
movies, and also in Hollywood and British productions. Keeping in mind the
versatility of his acting prowess roles were written for him that can be
compared only to that of Amitabh Bachchan in the latter's post-2000 career; the ultimate
crowning glory for an actor. And most importantly, Irrfan Khan was never a modern
hero of Bollywood in terms of the desired attributes: handsome, tall, powerfully
built with preferably body-building obsession, fighting and dancing abilities
and so on. He never danced around the trees chasing the heroines. And yet, he
played hero, protagonists in numerous movies—both mainstream and commercial,
endearing himself to all types of moviegoers of the country. He did every kind
of role, living the characters, with his typical matter-of-fact acting and a
unique casual style of dialogue delivery.
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| Irrfan with Tabu for The Namesake |
Irrfan Khan started his career in 1988 with a small
role in the highly acclaimed ‘Salaam
Bombay’ and after that had years of struggle trying to establish himself
through various roles in mostly off-beat films. The final recognition as an
exceptionally talented actor came with his two films, ‘Haasil’ (2003) for which he got the Filmfare Award for Best Actor
in a negative role and the internationally acclaimed ‘Maqbool’ (2004). He never looked back since then. One outstanding film that comes to the mind is
‘Paan Singh Tomar’ (2011) in which he
played the title character and won the National Award for Best Actor. It was
followed by stupendously realistic movies like ‘Lunch Box’ (2013), ‘Piku’
(2015) and ‘Talvar’ (2015), and also
Hollywood movies, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’
(2012), ‘Life of Pi’ (2012), ‘Jurassic World’ (2015) and ‘Inferno’ (2016). His comedy-drama ‘Hindi Medium’ (2017) became the highest
grossing movie of his career giving him another Filmfare Award for Best Actor,
and the release of the sequel ‘Angrezi
Medium’, Irrfan’s last performance, had to be postponed as we mentioned
earlier. Although Irrfan mostly played serious intense characters his comic
timing was also established in movies like ‘Piku’
and ‘Hindi Medium’. He was awarded ‘Padma
Shri’, India’s fourth-highest civilian honor, in 2011.
During the last two years not many of his movies
were running in the theaters which makes our hearts cry now, for missing his powerful
screen portrayals; however, as a consolation, his lovable movies like ‘Billu’ (2009), ‘The Lunchbox’, ‘Hindi Medium’,
‘Piku’, ‘Talvar’, ‘Jazbaa’ (2015) and
so on were being constantly shown across the small screens of the movie
channels. In his personal life he was a devout loving husband and a caring
father, leaving behind his co-actor wife and two sons.
As the film fraternity of India and international
admirers shower an unending stream of messages of shock, anguish and condolences
we deeply mourn Irrfan Khan’s untimely demise and pray for the eternal bliss of
his soul. One of the finest actors of all time, Irrfan Khan will live on in our
hearts, forever. His painful struggle hoping against hope symbolizes what
planet earth is going through at this moment—uncertainty looming large over
every field of activity including the film industry all over the globe. Filmography:
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