Irrfan Khan, who suffered from a rare cancer diagnosed in 2018, had just been hospitalized this week in Bombay and his death was announced Wednesday by his agent, according to which “Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought to the end and always inspired everyone who approached him. “
Born on January 7, 1967 in northern Rajasthan, Irrfan Khan discovered a passion for theater at a very young age and studied at the National School of Drama in New Delhi.
But playing Shakespeare or Chekhov did not help much in its beginnings, in the 1980s, in an Indian cinema which then favored blockbusters with songs and dances.
He landed a role in “Salaam Bombay” (1988) by Mira Nair but had to resolve to see the editing of his role reduced to a simple appearance. He cries for hours, he told the Indian magazine Open: “It changed something in me. After that, I was ready for anything.”
There are roles for television, a few secondary roles in Bollywood. The producers remove him from any main role, deeming his physique atypical. Frustrated, he was about to give up everything when the British filmmaker Asif Kapadia called him for “The Warrior” (2001).
Celebrated, the film earned Irrfan Khan to be spotted in India by a new generation of directors eager to explore new territories.
His classical training serves him in adaptations of “Macbeth” (“Maqbool”, 2003) and “Hamlet” (“Haider”, 2014). He won the hearts of the public in lighter films like “Piku” (2015), alongside the superstars of Bollywod Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone.
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Indian actor Irrfan Khan, alongside his son Aayan, addresses journalists at the Mahatma Gandhi ashram in Ahmedabad on June 19, 2016 AFP photo
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At the same time, he opened up the road to Hollywood by trying to distance himself from Bollywood conventions to focus on the subtlety of his game. He plays alongside Angelina Jolie in the drama “A heart undefeated “(2007) by Michael Winterbottom, presented at Cannes.
In 2008, his face became known worldwide thanks to “Slumdog Millionaire” by Danny Boyle, film at the eight Oscars where he camped a police inspector. He continued his career in the United States playing in blockbusters like “The Amazing Spider-Man” (2012), “Jurassic World” (2015), and “Inferno” (2016).
“Scottish shower”
Critics greet him for “Pi’s Odyssey” (2012) by Taiwanese Ang Lee and “The Lunchbox” (2013), a romantic comedy by Ritesh Batra where he plays a lonely accountant falling in love with a housewife with whom he remote dialogue via the lunch bowl.
Western audience “appreciate the depth brought to a character”, he explains in 2015 to AFP. Still he appreciates “the lack of formalism and the importance of personal relationships in Bollywood” because “things are too compartmentalized in Hollywood and the system can be rigid.”
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Indian actor Irrfan Khan at the 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood where the film “Slumdog Millionaire” triumphs, February 23, 2009 AFP photo
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Father of two, Irrfan Khan has appeared in hundreds of films, winning multiple awards and gaining the admiration of his peers. During the promotion of “Inferno” (2016), the American actor Tom Hanks describes it as “coolest guy in this room”.
Her life took a tragic turn in 2018 with the announcement of her cancer. He left for a year to be treated in London, accompanied by his family, then returned to play a single father in “Angrezi Medium” (2020). Before the film is released, he must return to Britain for treatment.
In March, he told the Bombay daily Mumbai Mirror that his life since the announcement of his illness has been like “Scottish shower“, or “the happy moments are heightened because of the underlying uncertainty”, adding: “we cried a little and laughed a lot”.
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