Irrfan Khan was honoured at the 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) which screened his 2012 film Paan Singh Tomar on 22 January. The late actor's wife Sutapa Sikdar and son Babil Khan attended the event.
Babil posted a few photos from IFFI on Instagram, one in which he poses with his mother, another of Sutapa giving a speech on stage with Babil by her side, and a third of the two being felicitated at the event. "Beautiful catharsis @iffigoa," he captioned the photos.
In her speech, Sutapa said that the festival had offered her "closure". "It was a very brave decision to step out of home and attend the festival. One needs closure to walk ahead and IFFI is a closure for me, it is like being there for what we have done 30 years ago as students. It feels nice to be here together to celebrate the person and IFFI couldn't have chosen a better film because this film talks about a race and reaching the finishing line. Irrfan's finish line came too soon, but we are proud of him," she said.
In another post Babil said he was grateful to be able to watch his late father on the big screen once more. He wrote, "Today, I need to share this as @iffigoa made it possible to watch and hear him on the big screen one more time, that to in Paan Singh Tomar. (This man exuded a younger energy than me in his late 40s even.)
Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, Paan Singh Tomar is a biopic of the former gold medal-winning athlete turned dacoit. Irrfan Khan, who played the titular role in the film, won accolades for his performance, including a National Film Award for Best Actor and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor in 2013.
The 51st edition of IFFI, which kicked off in Goa on 16 January, will also pay homage to actors Sushant Singh Rajput, Rishi Kapoor, Soumitra Chatterjee and Chadwick Boseman by screening their movies, Kedarnath, Bobby, Charulata and 42, respectively.
Irrfan Khan passed away on 29 April 2020 after a two-year battle with cancer.
(With inputs from IANS)
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