RIP Irrfan Khan, A Phenomenal Actor Gone Too Early
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2020-04-29 16:29:08
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One of the finest actors India has had the privilege of being a part of its film industry breathed his last in Mumbai today morning. Irrfan Khan was admitted to the ICU in Kokilaben Hospital in the city a couple of days back with colon infection. Khan was battling a rare form of cancer for the last nearly two years. He had also visited London for his treatment last year. His cancer was in the advanced stage and he battled with it for long and with fortitude. Khan leaves behind his wife Sutapa and two sons.
Starting his career with the Academy Award-nominated Salaam Bombay, Irrfan Khan was a part of many exciting and important films like Maqbool, Haider, Paan Singh Tomar, Piku, Talvar, The Lunchbox and Life in a Metro. He also acted in many international projects like Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire, A Mighty Heart and Jurrasic World, among others. Khan was last seen in Angrezi Medium where he played an overly protective Rajasthani father to perfection.
Irrfan Khan had the innate ability to get into the skin of any character he was asked to portray. That made his acting look natural and effortless. Despite being a much in demand actor, he was very down to earth and this endeared him to the entire film fraternity. He had his share of duds (bread and butter movies?) like Krazzy 4, Hiss, Rog and Right Ya Wrong, among others. But that is the price every actor working in India has to pay as good films are few and far between. Yet, Khan made it up with the intensity of his performance in the other films.
In one of the best tributes paid so far, the director of his last released film Angrezi Medium, Homi Adajania, movingly said that "you once told me how you had an inexplicable love for your craft but didn't want the stardom anymore. Well, you never needed to be a star, my friend, because you shone brighter than anything in the universe." The likes of Irrfan Khan are rare. His early death had robbed the film industry of a phenomenal talent who had so much to offer.
