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Irrfan Khan’s inspiring journey from Chandrakanta to Macbeth to a father struggling to get his child into a school

Irrfan Khan’s inspiring journey from Chandrakanta to Macbeth to a father struggling to get his child into a school

  • The 54-year-old actor passed away today leaving Bollywood with a vacuum that few can ever fill.
  • Khan who made his debut with a DD-era TV show ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’ in 1988, became one of the very few actors who started with bit parts.
  • His first stint with that of Bollywood was light on-screen time as he did not even have a five-minute role in 1988 movie “Salaam Bombay” which went on to win a National Film award.

Unlike the character of Badrinath he played in the fantasy TV series Chandrakanta, Irrfan Khan will not be making a much-wanted comeback. Not anymore; as the 54-year-old passed away today leaving Bollywood and maybe even Hollywood with a vacuum that few can ever fill.

Khan is survived by wife Sutapa Sikdar and kids Babil Khan and Ayan Khan. “Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him,” his family said in a statement.


Khan who made his debut with a DD-era TV show ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’ in 1988, became one of the very few actors who started with bit parts to progress to character roles and finally to become a protagonist playing author-backed roles in movies like Hindi Medium, Qarib Qarib Singlle and many more.

His first stint with that of Bollywood was light on-screen time as he played a role that lasted a few minutes in the 1988 movie Salaam Bombay, which went on to win a National Film award.

But he became famous for his acting chops as he played the layered and complicated Macbeth in Maqbool. It was later followed with the role of a boorish Bengali man in Life in a Metro who left the audience in splits. But one of his first roles as a protagonist was in Lunch Box, a heart-warming love story along with Pan Singh Tomar, the tragic story of a national-level athlete turned rebel - a role that won him a National Award.

Very soon, Hollywood came calling where he played key roles in Life of Pi and The Amazon Spider-Man and even the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire along with The Namesake. In a career that lasted 32 years, there were few characters he did not try and excel.

The ₹300 acting job in a DD serial

Credits: DD

Khan hailed from Jaipur and graduated from National School of Drama in 1984. While he was still learning, he landed his first job in a DD show that paid him ₹300, and was ‘very excited about it’. “It was a good amount back then, as my monthly expenses then were at ₹400,” Khan told Kapil Sharma on his show.

Khan was influenced by actors like Om Puri who never met the conventional standards of physique and looks to make it in a Bollywood movie.

Khan himself mentioned many times that he would not prefer to be a conventional ‘star’. Yet top roles came calling in Bollywood and Hollywood. True to his word, he also rejected A-list Hollywood films like The Martian and Interstellar.

‘To live and be dead is worse than the fear of death’

Khan exhibited this very same grit and determination even after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2018. After that, he shot his movie Angrezi Medium which was released just before the Coronavirus lockdown. Even as he fought a long and lasting battle with cancer, his spirits were never down.

“You know what’s worse than one’s fear of death? To live and be dead. I relate to everything which works against the odds. I have faith in miracles and I have faith in obtaining the unattainable with an undying spirit," Khan told media in March ‘20 while talking about his movie Angreji Medium.

Just before he passed away, the Padma Shri winning actor had to suffer through another personal tragedy. His 95-year-old mother Saeeda Begum had passed away in Jaipur on Saturday (April 25), and he was unable to attend the funeral because of the lockdown.


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