Legacy of a Legend – Irrfan Khan (1967 – 2020)

Today, Indian Cinema lost one of its most precious jewels to destiny and time. Padma Shri Irrfan Khan (1967 – 2020) didn’t just take Bollywood to new heights with his incredible talent but also garnered tremendous amount of international fame. With a career span of over 30 years, Irrfan has his name attached to over 50 domestic films as he slowly and gradually became popular for his uncoventional and semi-commercial films.

Irrfan’s journey wasn’t an easy one as even after being a student of National School of Drama, he was stuck in the television industry for a long time until he received his major breakthrough in the British film Warrior (2001). After having his talents recognized, his due was finally granted to him by Bollywood with the film Haasil (2003) and ever since then, he never had a need to look back. And now after 2 years of fighting neuroendocrine tumour, he finally rests in peace. All we can do to honor him, is go down the memory lane and look at some of his best works to date!

When you see one of the most critically acclaimed and highest grossing films of 2017 at number ten, you know this list is going somewhere. That is the magic of Irrfan! Hindi Medium was a semi commercial film highlighting the lengths, to which parents can go for their children while also highlighting the complexities of life and the gap between the rich and poor. Even after dealing with such complex topics, its not a full blown social issue film and handles itself in a humorous and grounded manner. It had a unique concept and good script but the highlight of the film was its excellent cast  lead by Irrfan, winning him a Filmfare and IIFA award for the same. Saba Qamar and Deepak Dobrial delivered tremendous performances as well making Hindi Medium a must mention on this list.

Karwaan was Irrfan’s last film before he was diagnosed with tumour and ironically the film was all about life! This is a film which has the capability to make you nostalgic, now that he’s gone. Again its an unconventional film by Akarsh Khurana, with yet another unique concept where we take a road trip with three characters having totally different personalities. Irrfan’s ‘full of life’ character serves as the comic relief, while Mithilia Palkar’s Tanya is the sassy young girl and Dalqueer Salman’s Avinash is the serious guy. Salman and Irrfan delivered top notch performances and what’s amazing was the fact that even after being pitted with two new comers, Irrfan was almost effortlessly flawless!

Next on the list is Shoojit Sircar’s Piku which is again a film about life and involves a road trip. This would probably be the only film on this list where Irrfan wasn’t the MVP of the film because that honor goes to Deepika Padukone, who delivered her career best performance. Both Amitabh Bacchan and Deepika Padukone went on to win Filmfares and National Awards, therefore, Irrfan was largely overshadowed but this film would have been lesser without him as he was the much needed comic element of the film and made the best out of whatever role he was offered.

Talk about versatility? Well, Irrfan is the answer. Written by Vishal Bhardwaj and directed by Meghna Gulzar, Talvar is a highly dark and gripping tale based on the Aarushi Talwar murder case of 2008 which questions the very essence of the justice system of India. It may not be a hundred percent factual but it is one of the most thought provoking and realistic murder mystery Bollywood film of all time. Once again Irrfan Khan was the highlight of the brilliant cast ensemble as his character was all we expect from an honest investigating officer but this film was much more than just performances and plot.

As I mentioned above, Irrfan’s fame ain’t limited to India as films like Slumdog Millionaire, Amazing Spider-man, Inferno and Jurassic World brought him International attention but the film which established him as an exceptional actor worldwide was Ang Lee’s Life of Pie. Though Irrfan played the older version of Pi and didn’t enjoy too much screen time, his performance within that limited time was enough to showcase his talents to the world. His performance was packed with beautiful dialogues and one of them, to always remember him by, is – “I suppose, in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go. But what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.“

5. Life In a Metro (2007)

 

When you see Irrfan Khan and Tabu together on the poster of any film, you know its going to be something amazing! Mira Nair’s The Namesake is one of the only few English language Bollywood films and is based on the novel of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri. It is a moving and intense tale of love, identity and culture which resonates, especially, in the modern era and therefore, it becomes a must watch. As far as Irrfan is concerned, he delivers a powerful and graceful performance that leaves an impact on the viewers mind and so does, Tabu.

Filled with immense simplicity and warmth, Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox still remains my favorite Bollywood art film of all time. Most of the non commercial art films deal with dark and depressing subjects but the sheer innocence of The Lunchbox is so adorable, that it makes you fall in love with it instantly. Exceptional performances by Irrfan, Nawaz and Nimrat Kaur make this film worth your time and it is bound to pull your heartstrings, no matter what genre of films you prefer. The Lunchbox is that one of a kind of special delight that Bollywood hardly offers these days.

If you didn’t see this coming, means you haven’t seen Maqbool yet! The first film in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Shakespearean Trilogy literally launched off Irrfan’s career to new heights. Maqbool, based on Macbeth, features an exceptional cast ensemble featuring Tabu, Irrfan Khan, Pankaj Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Piyush Mishra in major roles and stands right at the top of anything Bollywood has ever achieved in this particular genre. I could go all day long blabbering about Vishal Bhardwaj but this is about Irrfan Khan and his performance is phenomenal in this film; one of his career best to be precise. The fact that Shah Rukh Khan won the Filmfare that year, tells you a thing or two about the Indian award industry. Controversial? Well, lets move forward…

Was there even a shred of doubt that this was going to be the number one on this list? The film which won him all the critical acclaim, accolades and honors (including National Film Award) that an actor can ever receive, was Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Paan Singh Tomar. If you call yourself an Irrfan fan, you probably don’t even have to read my thoughts on his performance; in fact I am not dropping any thoughts on that. We all know! Paan Singh Tomar was a ground breaking film which opened Bollywood’s eyes on matter that such films CAN ALSO BE MADE!!!

One can easily notice the versatility of Irrfan Khan from this list itself, which hardly scratches the surface of what Irrfan has done for the Indian Cinema. I know there are many more Irrfan films that deserved to be mentioned here and it was really difficult to narrow all of them to my top 10. Some legends leave such a huge legacy that it becomes very difficult to mention each and every good aspect of it and Irrfan was definitely one of them. Even the thought that we wont be seeing him anymore saddens me and if there is one thing that I could say for sure is that he will be missed…