National Award-Winning Actor Irrfan Khan passes away at the age of 53, in Mumbai

I’ve never looked to create an Image where people fall in love with my face or style. It does cross my mind. But I’ve been trying to create a space for myself where I don’t depend on that.

Irrfan Khan

The news of Irrfan Khan death has come as a great shock for everyone who loves Bollywood movies. After several death rumors about Irrfan Khan, his fans finally heard this shocking, unexpected and saddening news of Irrfan Khan death, when filmmaker Shoojit Sircar took to the twitter on the afternoon of Wednesday, 29 April 2020. Actor Irrfan Khan died at the age of 53, at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai, surrounded by his loved ones.

Irrfan Khan’s mother had died just a few days ago, and he had to miss her funeral because of his worsened health conditions, resulting from the Neuroendocrine Tumour. After a two-year-long battle, he breathed his last today, and fans are mourning over his death, feeling truly shattered as they won’t be able to pay their last respects to the legendary actor, because of the ongoing nationwide lockdown.

Actor Irrfan Khan

National Award-Winning Actor Irrfan Khan passes away at the age of 53, in Mumbai

Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan, lovingly known in the film industry as Irrfan or Irrfan Khan, was born in Jaipur, Rajasthan on 7th January, 1967, in a Muslim family. After completing his M.A., he secured a scholarship and entrance into the National School of Drama, New Delhi in 1984, the same year when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated and there was a nationwide unrest.  Within four years released his debut movie, the Academy Award-nominated ‘Salaam Bombay’, in which he gave a critically acclaimed performance.

Irrfan Khan movies

“The day I become conventional, something inside me will die.”

And Actor Irrfan Khan just kept his word, by giving us some of the most unconventional performances through his movies. During the late 80s and early 90s, when stereotyped romantic movies had become a popular trend, Irrfan Khan in Bollywood, appeared in some critically acclaimed movies that have left their mark on the history of Indian Cinema. These movies include – his debut movie Salaam Bombay (1988), Kamla Ki Maut (1989), Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1990), etc. He also appeared in several Doordarshan TV shows like ‘Chanakya’, ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’, ‘Shrikant’, all of whom are an inseparable part of the legacy of DD shows.

Irrfan Khan in Bollywood got his first lead role in the film ‘Rog’, released in 2005. But the ‘Actor Irrfan Khan’ had already received international acclaim with Asif Kapadia’s 2001 film ‘The Warrior’, in which he played the role of a warrior in the feudal Rajasthan. The 2003 released Hindi crime Drama ‘Maqbool’, which was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, had established Irrfan Khan as a good actor in Bollywood. but his real breakthrough came from the movie ‘Life in a Metro’, through which he came into limelight in the year 2007.

Irrfan Khan Awards

National Award-Winning Actor Irrfan Khan passes away at the age of 53, in Mumbai

Gone are the times when Award Shows were not a high-profile function, and only the deservers got the awards. And Actor Irrfan Khan is one of the few actors in Bollywood who belong to that time, and continued to win hearts of audiences even now. Irrfan Khan movies in Hollywood, and Irrfan Khan movies in Bollywood earned him numerous accolades, for his outstanding acting performances. He won the his first Filmfare Award in 2003, for his negative role in the movie ‘Haasil’.

It was followed by 3 more Filmfare Awards, most recent being the Filmfare Best Actor Award and also the IIFA Award of 2018, for his portrayal of an illiterate, self-made, upper-middle-class father struggling for a bright future of his daughter in the movie ‘Hindi Medium’. Irrfan Khan age at that time was 5. Who would have thought that we will lose such a great actor within two years?

Irrfan Khan Movies in Bollywood

National Award-Winning Actor Irrfan Khan passes away at the age of 53, in Mumbai

In his early ages, Actor Irrfan Khan had a keen interest in playing cricket and was also selected for representing his team, in First Class Cricket at the C K Nayudu Tournament. Though he couldn’t make it then due to financial incapability, destiny had planned something else for him. Though not a cricketer, Irrfan Khan, in the 2012 released bio-pic ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, played the titular role of famous Indian athlete Paan Singh Tomar, an Indian soldier who went on to become a great athlete and won many Championships at the International level including a Gold Medal – but as the faith turns its back towards him, he had to turn into a rebel against the unjust system.

“Desh ke liye daude to kisine na puchha, ab baghi ban gaye, to sab ehi naam jap rahe, Paan Singh, Paan Singh…”. And then came 2 National Awards, and another Filmfare Critic’s Choice Award as the Best Actor. Very few Critic’s choice actors can make their way into the hearts of audiences, and Actor Irrfan Khan did it very well.

Irrfan Khan movies in Hollywood

2012 was a magical year for Irrfan Khan, as along with ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, he went on to star in a number of well-known Hollywood movies as well. That includes ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, and the Academy Award-nominated ‘Life of Pi’. The name of Actor Irrfan Khan had already become known to Hollywood, with his exceptional performance in the 2008 Academy Award-winning movie, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, and he never looked back. He also starred in ‘Jurassic World’,’ Inferno’, and lent his voice to ‘Baloo’, one of the characters in the 2016 released ‘The Jungle Book’.

Irrfan Khan Health

National Award-Winning Actor Irrfan Khan passes away at the age of 53, in Mumbai

In March 2018, Irrfan Khan himself informed his fans about being down with some serious ailment, though not disclosing its name. Later he took to Twitter and revealed that he had been diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Tumour, or the Colon Infection. Irrfan Khan age 52 at that time, went to London for treatment and showed signs of recovery in late 2018. He kept updating his health condition to his fans through social media sites. He also managed to complete the shoot of ‘Angrezi Medium’, a sequel of his another critically acclaimed and superhit 2017 movie ‘Hindi Medium’.

This movie proved to be Irrfan Khan’s last movie, released two months ago. As his health was deteriorating, Actor Irrfan Khan was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Mumbai’s Kokilaben Hospital on Tuesday, 27th April 2020. Though his spokesperson kept denying the death rumors about Irrfan Khan until Wednesday morning, the sad news of Irrfan Khan death finally came to the people at around 1 p.m.

This is not the first time that true Bollywood fans are bearing the pain of an untimely death of their beloved artists. Go through the pages of history, and you’ll find many names – be it the gorgeous Madhubala, who died at the tender age of 36 due to a hole in the heart, actors like Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan who died of heart failure at the age of 47 and 51 respectively, or the legendary singers Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar, who left us at the age of 55 and 58 respectively, again due to heart failure.

But Irrfan Khan death is one of the saddest and most shocking events that has happened since the last many years, the other one being the death of Sridevi. As the actor had shown signs of recovery and had also resumed his work with his latest film being released in early 2020, no one would have ever imagined that anything like this would happen. But death reigns supreme. Though Actor Irrfan Khan is no more, he will be remembered through his films, his acting, the legacy that he carried forward, and for the legacy that he created. In the end, it all reminds me of a dialogue from the 1971 movie ‘Anand’, starring Rajesh Khanna, and written by Gulzar – “Zindagi aur maut to uparwale ke haath me hai jahapnah, jisse na aap badal sakte hai na main!”

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