As the entire country unites to mourn the untimely demise of Irrfan Khan, we look back fondly at those times when the actor not just won millions of hearts in India but he impressed international celebrities like Ang Lee, Tom Hanks with his talent and suave.
Director Colin Trevorrow, who worked with Irrfan Khan in Jurassic Park, penned a heartfelt note on Twitter and recalled the last correspondence he had with the actor. “Deeply sad to have lost #IrrfanKhan. A thoughtful man who found beauty in the world around him, even in pain. In our last correspondence, he asked me to remember “the wonderful aspects of our existence” in the darkest of days. Here he is, laughing”, Colin wrote.
Actor Ava DuVernay took to Twitter to speak about being a fan of the actor and watching his films.
Ang Lee, who had collaborated with Irrfan and Tabu for his directorial venture Life of Pi, had said in a press conference that it’s an ‘honour’ to have worked with both the actors. “It was a privilege working with Tabu and Irrfan. I met Irrfan in New York and asked him if he could be part of the film, he liked the role and agreed. He is a unique actor. It’s a great honour to have worked with him”, Lee had said.
Even Tom Hanks, who shared screen space with Irrfan in Inferno, couldn’t help but acknowledge that Khan was way cooler than him. At an event organised by Sony Pictures Entertainment in Singapore, Hanks had said,
“Here’s what I hate about Irrfan Khan… I always think I’m the coolest guy in the room, and everybody’s hanging on to every word I say and everybody’s a little intimidated to be in my presence. And then Irrfan Khan walks into the room. And he’s the coolest guy in the room. And everybody’s intimidated to be in his presence and everybody’s hanging on to his every word”.Tom Hanks, Actor
Irrfan also played roles in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited.
While Khan had carved a niche for himself in Hollywood too, he also turned down lucrative offers for various reasons. Recently, he had said no to Steven Spielberg’s secret project that could have been Robopocalypse. Irrfan was supposed to appear in the film with Scarlett Johansson. “I didn’t feel the character offered to me gave me much scope”, he had said in an interview to NDTV, adding that he would have loved to work with Johansson.
Before that, he also had to let go of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. In an interview to Times of India, Khan had said that the makers wanted a “huge commitment” from him. “I was required to stay in the US for four months at a stretch and the makers didn’t agree to my suggestion of shuttling between the States and India. Though I never regret my decisions, but turning down a Nolan film has been one of the most difficult decisions of my life”.
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