Before I begin to say anything, I would like to confess that I wasn't a movie buff. Until I haven't watched Haasil in the scorching heat of June 2003 in the movie theatre in Chhapra (a small town in Bihar) with some of my friends. I was fascinated and mesmerized by the superb acting of "Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan", famously known as "Irrfan Khan" by portraying the main protagonist of Ranvijay Singh.
The reason for the liking of this cult classic movie was that it is set and shot in and around Allahabad, where the local dialect is pretty much similar of mine in Chhapra and the brilliant acting of Irrfan, for which he later won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor in a negative role.
Today, afternoon, when the news reports came that Irrfan, 53, has breathed his last in Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital due to a colon infection, at first, I couldn't believe that it's true, but unfortunately, it was.
One of the most versatile actors in the modern Indian cinema classics was born on January 7, 1967, in Jaipur to a Muslim Nawab family. Interestingly, while studying for his master's degree, he earned a scholarship in 1984 to study at the country's premier acting school, National School of Drama in Delhi. After graduating in 1987, Irrfan moved to the city of dreams — Mumbai, where he acted in several TV soap operas such as Chanakya, Banegi Apni Baat, Chandrakanta and Star Bestsellers.
One of the major USP of him that he always maintained a parallel career in Anglo-American cinema: He played the chief of police in Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart, and another police officer in the sensationally successful Slumdog Millionaire, which went on to win 8 Oscars.
However, some of the later roles saw him become a reliable standby character actor in big-budget Hollywood films, playing a doctor in The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012 and businessmen in Jurassic World (2015) and Inferno (2016). Also, in 2012, he played the lead role in another Oscar-winner Life of Pi.
Meanwhile, Irrfan became the box office chartbuster with getting success in The Lunchbox, in which he played an accountant who strikes up a letter-writing romance with sadistic housewife Nimrat Kaur. Also, he shared the screen space with superstar Amitabh Bachchan and B-town diva Deepika Padukone in comedy-drama Piku.
Some of his other successful movies are Hindi Medium, Talvar, Paan Singh Tomar and Maqbool. Throughout his career, he won several awards like Filmfare Award, National Award and other international accolades.
In the end, I would like to say that I recently watched his latest flick Angrezi Medium, little did I know that it's going to be his last work for all of us. I have tears in my eyes for a person, whom I know mostly from watching his films, interviews and a super lucky chance to mee
You'll be missed Irrfan Bhai for sure. And by recalling your dialogue in the cult classic movie Haasil, one of my all-time favourite film of yours, Tumko Yaad Rakhenge Guru Hum"!
