Acclaimed Indian actor Irrfan Khan breathed his last today, at the age of 53, after a two-year battle with neuroendocrine tumour — leaving his legion of fans shocked and distressed in India and abroad.
Earlier on Tuesday, he got admitted to Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, where he was under observation for colon infection.
India’s most recognisable face in the west and an actor par excellence, Irrfan had left India shocked in 2018 when he had announced that he’d been diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour.
The news of his death was shared on Twitter by filmmaker Shoojit Sircar. “My dear friend Irfaan. You fought and fought and fought. I will always be proud of you.. we shall meet again.. condolences to Sutapa and Babil.. you too fought, Sutapa you gave everything possible in this fight. Peace and Om shanti. Irfaan Khan salute,” he wrote.
Born to Muslim parents in the village of Tonk near Jaipur, Irrfan’s mother had a royal lineage but his father was a self-made man. Eldest of three siblings, Irrfan joined National School of Drama after his father’s death. Ironically, his mother, Saeeda Begum, died a few days before his death.
Mira Nair was the first to spot his talent and cast him in Salaam Bombay in 1988; a part that was chopped at the editor’s table. The two went on to collaborate again in the critically acclaimed The Namesake in 2006 and for the director’s segment in New York, I Love You.
After doing television for years, a period of his career that he described as ‘being stuck’, Irrfan found his big break in Aasif Kapadia’s The Warrior. Irrfan’s career steadily progressed – in India where he went on from playing character roles to headlining films, and then went on to become India’s most celebrated face in the West. He earned steady kudos at home and abroad as a steady actor whose performances were lifelike, dependable.
Danny Boyle called his Slumdog Millionaire performance “beautiful to watch”, while the celebrated critic Roger Ebert noted his ‘subtle, engrossing work’ in The Namesake.
Prior to the Angrezi Medium’s release, the actor had shared an empowering video message for his fans, stating that the only choice he had was to remain positive. “One doesn’t have any other choice but to remain positive. Whether you are able to make lemonade in such situations is entirely up to you. We’ve made this film with the same sort of positivity. I hope this film is able to make you laugh and cry in equal measure.”
His most famous films include his debut, the Academy Award nominated Salaam Bombay!, Maqbool (2004), Paan Singh Tomar (2011), The Lunchbox (2013), Haider (2014), Gunday (2014), Piku (2015) and Talvar (2015) and Hindi Medium (2017). Courtesy: The Hundustan Times
