Off they went to their heavenly abode, two beloved entertainers of bollywood who created a niche for themselves. In spite of wails and cries with COVID 19 taking away lives unwarrantedly, we haven’t become numb to deaths. Nobody will. We are a movie-loving country. Movies are integral part of our lives. So actors don’t just pass off as entertainers in our living rooms but become role models and love to many. With the media reporting everything about them we get a daily dose of update on them and the idea that they are part of us creeps into us. So it’s justifiable for us to grieve the way we do. Thousands of grieving fans gathering to mourn the passing away of a hero, lining the streets for hours on end to pay their respects and police controlling crowds convey to the rest of the world how we admire heroes. The passing away of Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor has left another void in the world of entertainment.
Not a cinephile, I watch a few for review sake or on repetitive suggestions. Life of Pi and slumdog millionaire are two such movies I watched half heartedly but fell in love with, only because, Irrfan was part of it. Curious, I watched many more of Irrfan’s movies and his ability to avoid clichés in playing delicate roles amazed me. For all those who have grown with a narrow concept of masculinity or macho heroism, Irrfan came as an archetype of the new-style tangible possible hero. So, we do not distance this hero of our’s, an ultimate symbol of human ideals and values. When Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan was born into a middle class family of Pathan ancestry on 7 January 1967, no one could have imagined that he would become perhaps the most recognizable actor Indian cinema has ever known. He wasn’t raised for stardom but he ruled filmdom for 3 decades.
Notable or supporting roles Irrfan did his best with sheer passion, sometimes by controlling the emotional dynamic of a film
and his fans were left to decide which Irrfan they would remember. Whether he would be pleased about how his movies have influenced the audience is another matter, but it would be very difficult to argue that they have not. Where most actors insist on being the center of it all, Irrfan knew how to disappear into the roles, how to match his skills to the elements of a story — it was sometimes difficult to tell one from the other. Watching him slip into his roles easily helps us understand that acting can be made as interesting as real life, and done as artistically.
There’s not much of a difference between the real life and reel life hero Irrfan. I conclude this after watching quite a few interviews of his in prominent news channels. I sadly relate Irrfan’s struggle towards unsurpassable stardom and his fight against cancer with the middle-aged Pi telling the tale of his earlier life to a wide-eyed Canadian novelist. He said it all so beautifully and in a reliably engaging manner so that we know that he made it big through whatever ordeal he had to. His love for books, music or his role in a movie or life as such, the common man could relate to him and that made him find a place in our hearts. Being a voracious reader and a knowledgeable person he kept the discussion on an intellectual plane and won the trust of interviewers and audience. He discussed everything with stunning ease and so casually that listeners did not know whether the actor was describing himself or a character in a movie. Two decades of international success were inspired by lofty aspirations, while the brilliancy of his thought, character and fine skills of the versatile actor that he is commanded even the admiration of his most pronounced critics. His humane sensitivity allowed him to play everything from the patriarch of an immigrant Bengali family in “The Namesake,” to a man engulfed with a godliness that knows no doctrinal limits in “The life of Pi”. In ‘Inferno’ , watching him slip into the role of Harry, The provost a mysterious,enigmatic and a major player in the grand scheme of things I thought if acting can be made as interesting as real life, and done as artistically. Kind and incredible at his craft is what all co-stars of national and international acclaim consider Irrfan to be.
He died young. May be he died a painful death. He was a global celebrity in the broadest sense, a man of startling appeal who became famous after his minor role in Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay and even more famous when ‘The Warrior’, a historical film opened in International Film festivals. His rise was slow and steady. If Irrfan’s career was a story of grit and determination, the cancer that plagued him was a real-life nightmare he handled with care. We may have to wait for a smile like that, eyes like that and presence like that for a lifetime. Irrfan embodied it all.
As brand ambassador for “Resurgent Rajasthan”, a campaign by the state government of Rajasthan, his image as an outreach champion happened in no time. In his life time, this versatile actor had accomplished what he yearned to do and proved to everybody that he had experimented it all. He will always be the ”coolest guy in the room”. The film fraternity will forever cherish the golden age of Irrfan, when one charismatic human ruled the industry by charming the masses as well as classes with equal aplomb, changing the game in the process. Irrfan is nearly as vivid a figure in death as in life. We hope he lives on in his sons, Babil and Ayaan. An indefatigable, improvisational genius, who arrived on screen as a ‘letter writer’ and left as an Academy Award-winning actor, Irrfan will always be remembered with some of our favorite scenes and lines.
Yes dearest Irrfan, “In the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go” and with too much sadness we let go of you to rest in peace.
Dr. Elsa Lycias Joel is a member of research gate with number of research publications on mangrove fungi. Worked with the New Indian Express as sub editor for two years. Contributes stories to Junior Chandamama,The children’s magazine by PCM publishers since 2004.