Avijit Ghosh (THE TIMES OF INDIA; April 30, 2020)

“I trust, I have surrendered,” were the words Irrfan used in a heartfelt note he wrote in 2018 on his fight with cancer, his family recalled in a statement on Wednesday announcing his demise. “A man of few words and an actor of silent expressions… it’s saddening that this day, we have to bring forward the news of him passing away. Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him…”

Irrfan was among the most recognised Asian actors in world cinema. He worked in global blockbusters (Jurassic World, The Amazing Spider-Man, Inferno), Oscar-winning flicks (Slumdog Millionaire), with Oscar-winning directors (Ang Lee) and in festival favourites (Mira Nair’s The Namesake, Asif Kapadia’s The Warrior, Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart).

Watching Irrfan perform often felt like dipping your hands, eyes closed, into a box of goodies. Serendipity lay ahead. Like a consummate card player, he laid out his hand steadily. He didn’t perform shots or scenes, he unravelled characters. There’s a rounded integrity to the gentle Bengali immigrant Ashoke Ganguly (The Namesake). And he seamlessly brings a raffish sparkle to the uncouth but endearingly funny office employee in Life in a Metro. In Paan Singh Tomar, a biopic on the national steeplechase champion who took to the Chambal ravines, Irrfan presents a multi persona: husband, athlete and dacoit. And in The Lunchbox, he brings a quiet sincerity to Saajan Fernandes, an accountant too hesitant in love and life. Qissa (Punjabi), 7 1/2 Phere, Haider and Talvar are other important roles in a career that stretched over three decades.

As a teenager, Irrfan was more interested in cricket. In a talk show, Son Of Abish, he once said that he was a good all-rounder. He was selected to play for the CK Nayudu cricket tournament but couldn’t afford the travel cost. A scholarship in National School of Drama reset his career.

Irrfan arrived at the institute with Naseeruddin Shah in his head. Aseem Chhabra’s recent biography quotes fellow actor Mita Vashisht as saying, “It was like, 'Arre yaar Irfan, Naseer ko chhodh do…We often saw Naseer in his performances.' At NSD, he also met his future wife Sutapa Sikdar (dialogue writer, Kahaani) and Tigmanshu Dhulia.

Dhulia’s Haasil was his breakthrough movie, his career’s turning point. His menacing but magnetic Ranvijay Singh can easily figure among the top 10 Bollywood villains of all time. The movie plonked but Irrfan soared. “(Director) Vishal Bhardwaj saw Haasil at a trial and decided to cast Irrfan in Maqbool,” Dhulia told this reporter several years ago. Later again, it was Dhulia’s Paan Singh Tomar that fetched Irrfan a national award for best actor.

The actor was on top of his game in 2018 when the tumour struck. His last message to his fans was: “Wait for me.”
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Left home saying he had a teacher’s job

- Ashish Mehta (THE TIMES OF INDIA; April 30, 2020)

Jaipur: Haider Ali Zaidi, superintendent of police in Bharatpur, has fond memories of his childhood friend, Irrfan Khan. Recalling the night Irrfan decided to leave his hometown to pursue an acting career, he said, “I was sleeping on the roof. It was 3.30 am and somebody was screaming and knocking at our door. I went down. It was Irrfan.” Zaidi said, “He was looking restless. He told me he had been selected for the acting course at National School of Drama. He had little money and was worried if it would be enough for his fare to Delhi. I assured him it was sufficient; he was such a simple man. That day he took a bus to Delhi at 5.30 am.” Khanhad left without telling his family about his plans. “He told his mother he had got a job as a teacher.” Today, when news of his death arrived, the family home, already in mourning after the death of his mother Saeeda Begum a few days ago, was again plunged in grief.


Khan’s elder son Babil is consoled by a friend of the family outside the hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday