RIP- Irrfan Khan

Our Bollywood is replete with actors of all hues and shades – thespians, stars, superstars, character actors et al ! But there was never and may never be in future another Irfan Khan. 53 years old actor was suffering from neuro endocrinal rumour and had announced this himself to his fans over social media. His long stay in London for treatment raised some hopes and his recent release , Angrezi Medium had kindled the yearning of his prolonged stint in Bollywood as an actor of immense substance and talent.

His repertoire of work includes Haasil, Maqbool, Paan Singh Tomar, Haider, Piku and had a National award and several Filmfare awards in his kitty. An alumnus of National School of Drama ( NSD), where he met his life partner, Sutapa Sikdar, Irfan had acted in several Hollywood movies too, some of the more prominent being The Namesake, The Warrior, Life of Pi.

He was a natural actor – always the character, never an actor or a star. With ordinary boy next door looks, unique dialogue delivery, intense eyes and expressions par excellence he didn’t belong to any method or school of acting, but was always the character he played.

Son of Rajasthan, he had very recently lost his mother and had paid her the obeisance from a distance being unable to travel. Little did one realise that he’d so soon choose to be with his mother in heaven leaving behind millions of fans and a legacy that will ensure that his name remains etched in golden letters in the annals of Hindi cinema.

Rest in peace Irrfan- as he chose to be called in his later years – he loved the extra r to be pronounced with a twirl of tongue- there’d be actors galore but probably never another Irrfan!