Irrfan Khan: The Man, The Dreamer, The Star

by Aseem Chhabra

In 2016 Tom Hanks was in Cancun, Mexico, promoting Ron Howard’s film, Inferno. Asked about Irrfan Khan, his co-star in the film, he said, ‘I’m just beguiled by his magic eyes. He has a physicality to him that is so specific and endearing.’

Actor-director Tigmanshu Dhulia, his friend from NSD, also had similar thoughts on Irrfan’s sensual appeal. ‘Irrfan’s got a great sex appeal and he triggers the sensitive side of women in an intellectual way. He’s not for frivolous women, but for those with substance. Any woman who has some intellect will find Irrfan really attractive.’

‘Human beings are born to fly and to grow,’ he told Vinay Pathak. ‘If you can’t grow in your life, then there is no purpose.’

‘Umango bhari umar hai. Saare aalam ko fateh karne ka khwaab dekhne ki umar hai (My life and age is full of hope. It is the age to dream of capturing the entire world).’

I am constantly looking for newer, compelling stories, so I don’t repeat myself.14

‘Mehnat toh kar rahe hote hain, lekin agar woh mehnat dikh jaye, phir audience ka maza nikal jaata hai (They are working hard, but if the audience sees that hard work, then they lose the fun of it.).

I don’t draw references from cinema while acting. I draw from how I feel.

I’m looking for those stories that touch audiences and stay with them. And wherever I find them, whether it is Hollywood, Bollywood or France, I’ll jump to do it.33

I suppose, in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go. But what will always hurt the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.’

Irrfan also made light of the situation when he narrated this conversation he had with Ang Lee. ‘I suddenly got a call from Ang Lee and he said, “We need to reshoot certain portions.” I said, “Reshoot? Which portions?” He said, “All of it.” So I said, “Ang. This is like you know I’ve just made love and you’re saying come on, go on again.” So he said, “Just imagine it’s a new girl!”’

‘It makes me happy when people outside India recognize my work, because at some level I am also able to change their idea about our cinema,’ Irrfan said in an interview, as he addressed the impact of his non-Bollywood films.67 ‘Our stories are getting more real, our audience is changing and the world should know about it.’

Ek baar to yun hoga, thoda sa sukoon hoga Na dil mein kasaq hogi, na sar mein junoon hoga.

‘Darya bhi main, darakht bhi main. Jhelum bhi main, chinar bhi main. Dair bhi hoon, haram bhi hoon. Shia bhi hoon, Sunni bhi hoon. Main hoon pandit. Main tha, main hoon aur main hi rahoonga

‘For the actor Irrfan the character is like the kite in the sky,’ Anup says. ‘He holds the string, but how much can he control it, because you never know the winds. There are other kites in the sky. There are trees, electric wires. Any burst of wind could smash the kite.’ So any slight development in the environment can impact how Irrfan acts in any scene. Anup recalls that during one shot of Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, a leaf fell on Irrfan’s shoulder. ‘He noticed it and he paused,’ Anup says. ‘His whole rhythm changed.’

Movie stars are like friends who live far away, and yet we believe we know them well. We like to stay in touch with them—at least through social media in the case of the movie stars—but if we do not hear from them regularly, we just assume all is well.

Margaret Mitchell (author of the American epic, Gone with the Wind)—‘Life is under no obligation to give us what we expect.’

‘I was travelling on a speedy train ride, had dreams, plans, aspirations, goals, was fully engaged in them,’ he said in the interview with The Times of India. ‘And suddenly someone taps on my shoulder and I turn to see. It’s the TC: “Your destination is about to come. Please get down.”’94

And then he added, ‘The only thing certain was the uncertainty… This realization made me submit, surrender and trust, irrespective of the outcome, irrespective of where this takes me…’

why talk about all the known and the unknown see how the unknown merges into the known why think separately of this life and the next when one is born from the last