Irrfan Khan: The wrong time for a great actor to go

Irrfan Khan showed the power of understatement in a sea of OTT. And we loved it — and him.

By ET Bureau | Apr 30, 2020, 08.50 AM IST

Khan’s death, at 53, is, in all the senses the word can conjure, a tragedy.

Irrfan Khan was not a star, but an actor. And in a country where the distinction between the two, even when merged in one individual, is rarely appreciated, Khan was special. He was also loved — obvious as it may sound — simply and singularly for his acting.

His trademark under-the-top skills left searing marks on films and, by extension, on cinema-viewers. In movies like the 2012 Tigmanshu Dhulia-directed Paan Singh Tomar, where Khan plays the real-life soldier-turned-athlete-turned dacoit with angular brilliance, or the 2003 Maqbool, Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, where he displays a contained shuddering in his title role, Khan travelled through his characters.

They/he were/was droll, dramatic, and — as the widower in the 2013 film by Ritesh Batra, The Lunchbox — driven by warmth. Frustration found a powerful form, without veering into violin strains, in his role as an ally of a man of science (Pankaj Kapur) in Tapan Sinha’s 1980 Ek Doctor ki Maut (Death of a Doctor). Khan’s death, at 53, is, in all the senses the word can conjure, a tragedy. As R&AW agent Wali Khan in D-Day, he says, ‘Sirf insaan galat nahi hote… Waqt bhi galat ho sakta hai’ (It’s not only a person who can be wrong… The time can also be wrong.) What a galat waqt for Irrfan Khan to go.

'Piku', 'The Lunchbox' & 'Hindi Medium': Remembering Irrfan Khan With Some Of His Finest Movies

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Actor Irrfan Khan's sudden demise has left a void in our hearts. As the actor bid farewell to the world surrounded by his family and loved ones, the Indian film industry lost one of its brighest stars.

After battling rare cancer in 2018, he always took life as it came. Sharing a touching account of his battle with cancer with The Times Of India, he had said, 'As if I was tasting life for the first time, the magical side of it'.

From tickling our funny bone to leaving us awe-struck with intense scenes, he has never failed to entertain us in his career spanning over three decades.

While it is not possible to pick the best works from his expansive career, we have tried to compile a list of his finest movies that can be your tribute to him as you stay indoors.