Daily Times

British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed is heaping praises on late Indian actor Irrfan Khan.

Speaking to PTI in a recent interview, Riz touched upon some of the actor’s exceptional work including films like Maqbool, and The Lunchbox.

“I think Irrfan’s legacy is still being understood. I don’t really think there had been an actor like him until he came along. By that, I mean someone who seamlessly managed to bridge Bollywood and Hollywood, independent films and commercial films, in two languages and across the two biggest film industries in the world,” began Riz.

He added, “I don’t think that there’s been any like that before him or since, and that’s something quite profound when you really think about the impact of that culturally. He has made the world a slightly smaller place. He made it a more joined-up place.”

Riz went on to gush over the late star’s expressions. “Just those eyes… I remember seeing him for the first time in The Warrior. I remember seeing him in The Lunchbox. I remember seeing him in Maqbool. I remember seeing him in Life of Pi. And each time, the way that he could just be so unapologetically himself and still transform. That’s the realm of actors like Philip Seymour Hoffman who can transform while still revealing themselves,”

“I think he’s really a guiding light for a whole generation of people around the world. I think we were lucky to have been alive in a time when he was creating,” the Nightcrawler actor concluded.