Daily Times

The death of famous Indian actor Irfan Khan on 5th of Ramzan was on the news headlines on the morning of April 29, 2020 remembering him as Hollywood com Bollywood actor of substance.

He died in Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute, Mumbai, India on April 29, 2020.

He was born in Jaipur, Rajhistan, India in a Pathan family on 7th of January 1966. That made him 53 at the time of his demise. His mother Saeeda Begum died on the first of Ramzan, only four days before Irfan Khan’s death who could not attend her funeral because of Corona virus lockdown but he attended the ritual on video Cal. His father was in tyre business in Jaipur. Irfan is survived by his wife Sutapa and sons – Babil and Ayan.

It is reported that he got trained in Elite National School of Drama. He was follower and an ardent admirer of Naseer uddin Shah.

The moment news of his death came many Pakistani personalities condoled in the social media. Khalid Asghar, retired Controller Radio Pakistan, Lahore expressed “Legendary Actor Irfan Khan is no more with us. A great artist, fine gentleman, and a human rights activist lost his life-fighting Brain Cancer. Died young at the age of 53, Actor Irfan Khan was suffering from Lethal Terminal Disease Brain Tumer Cancer (neuroendocrine disease). May God rest his soul in eternal peace & grant him Jannat ul Firdous Ameen!”

Journalist Tahir Sarwer Mir mentioned in his video condolence that he had met Irfan Khan in Sun n Sand hotel, Bombay through actress Meera who was there for some shooting. Mir observed that Irfan spoke true Urdu in precise accent. He was ignored initially by producers who were probably looking for Mithun Chakaervarti, Anil Kapoor or Amitabh Bachan in him. He was not considered as a hero material. Irfan kept firm in his shoes and finally was acknowledged in Mira Naik’s film ‘Salam Bombay’. Then came the film ‘Kamla Ki Maut’. Kamala Hassan, a proponent of parallel cinema has given appreciation to Irfan in superlative expression. So has Mahesh Bhatt, Amitabh Bachan, politician Rahul Gandhi and Shabana Azmi and many more in India.

In Pakistan, actor Saba Qamar is in forefront to express her condolences. She was his co-star in the film ‘Hindi medium’ (2017). She tweeted “Deeply disturbed to hear about the passing of Irfan Khan. It feels like yesterday coming back from the sets of Hindi Medium. You taught me a lot as an actor and a mentor. Such a brilliant actor, gone too soon. I’m at a loss for words. RIP Raj Yours Only, Meeta #IrrfanKhan”.

It is reported that he got trained in Elite National School of Drama. He was follower and an ardent admirer of Naseer uddin Shah

Irfan’s last movie is ‘Angrezi Medium’ (2020). The names of his other films are Life of Pi 2012, The Lunchbox 2013, Jurassic World 2013, Slum dog Millionaire 2008, Inferno 2016, Blackmail 2018, Piku 2015, Qareeb Qareeb Single 2017, The amazing spider man 2017, Madaari 2016, Karwaan 2018, Paan Singh Tomaar 2010, Billu Barber 2009, Talvar 2015, The Namesake 2006, Puzzle 2018, Maqbool 2003, Jazba 2015, Ghunday 2014, Hisss 2013, D-Day 2013, Haider 2014, New York 2009, 7 Khoon Muaf 2011, Haasil 2003, Life in a Metro 2007, Warrior 2001, Thank you 2011, The song of scorpions 2017, Bajirao Mastani 2017, No bed of roses 2017 and many more. This is a list giving the names of few movies Irfan worked in for Hollywood and Bollywood. I became Irfan Khan’s fan after watching his work as a poor barber Billu of the film with the same title. From the list we have provided it is established that he did non-conventional roles and excelled in his performances. He was equally admired in the West and in the subcontinent. He bagged 32 awards and 34 nominations in his short span of acting career.

A Facebook fan mentioned Muhammad Atif Aleem “He is not DEAD. He has just stopped living.”

Saher Ali mentioned a letter by Irfan Khan when he was caught in a film like situation fighting life and death. Dr. Fouzia Tabassum referred to a dream of Irfan Khan when he was travelling in a train and somebody pats at his back saying that his station had arrived whereas he knew that he had to do a lot more to accomplish his dreams and he had yet to travel more. There is no way in stopping the will of Allah Almighty and Irfan Khan’s final station had arrived. May Allah bless his soul.

The writer is the recipient of the prestigious Pride of Performance award. He can be reached at doc_amjad@hotmail.com