Irrfan_Khan

Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan (7 January 1967 - 29 April 2020), [2] known professionally as Irrfan Khan or simply Irrfan, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema as well as British and American films. Cited in the media as one of the finest actors in Indian cinema, [3] [4] Khan's career spanned over 30 years and earned him numerous accolades, including a National Film Award, an Asian Film Award, and four Filmfare Awards. In 2011, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor. [5] Khan made his film debut with a small role in Salaam Bombay! (1988), which was followed by years of struggle. After starring in the British film The Warrior (2001), he had his breakthrough with starring roles in the dramas Haasil (2003) and Maqbool (2004). He went on to gain critical acclaim for his roles in The Namesake (2006), Life in a ... Metro (2007), and Paan Singh Tomar (2011). For portraying the title character in the last of these, he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. Further success came for his starring roles in The Lunchbox (2013), Piku (2015), and Talvar (2015) and he had supporting roles in the Hollywood films The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Life of Pi (2012), Jurassic World (2015), and Inferno (2016). [6] [7] His other notable roles were in Slumdog Millionaire (2008), New York (2009), Haider (2014), and Gunday (2014), and the television series In Treatment (2010). [8] [9] His highest-grossing Hindi film release came with the comedy-drama Hindi Medium (2017), which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor, and his final film appearance was in its sequel Angrezi Medium (2020). [10] As of 2017, his films had grossed $ 3.6 billion at the worldwide box office. [11] In 2018, Khan was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor. [12] [13] He died at the age of 53 on 29 April 2020 due to a colon infection. [2] Khan was described by Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian as "a distinguished and charismatic star in Hindi- and English-language movies whose hardworking career was an enormously valuable bridge between South Asian and Hollywood cinema." Early life and education Khan was born in Rajasthan into a Muslim family of Pathan ancestry. [14] [15] Khan's mother, Saeeda Begum Khan was from Jodhpur, and his father, Yaseen Ali Khan, was from the Khajuriya village in Rajasthan's Tonk district, and they ran a business of their own. [16] [17] [18] [19] He spent his childhood in Tonk, and then Jaipur. Irrfan was good at cricket and was selected to play in the CK Nayudu Trophy for emerging players in the under-23 category, a tournament seen as a stepping stone to first-class cricket in India. However, he did not attend as he could not afford travel expenses. [20] He showed interest in acting under the influence of his maternal uncle who himself was a theater artist in Jodhpur. [21] In Jaipur, Khan was introduced to note theater artists and did several stage performances in the city. Khan completed his MA in Jaipur before joining the National School of Drama (NSD) in New Delhi in 1984 to study acting. [22] [23] In his early days in Mumbai, he took up a job as an air conditioner repairman and visited the home of his acting inspiration, Rajesh Khanna, in 1984. [24] Later in an interview Irfan stated, "The kind of craze witnessed by Rajesh Khanna has not been duplicated by anyone. He was the biggest and the most real star Bollywood has produced. I'd say stardom is that feeling of being possessed by your idol ; you are so overwhelmed with euphoria you lose touch with reality. Beginnings, and TV actor (1987–2001) Khan was offered a minor role in Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay !, soon after his graduation from NSD in 1987; his scenes did not make it to the final cut. [26] He played Lenin in a teleplay on Doordarshan titled Laal Ghaas Par Neele Ghode, based on a translation by Uday Prakash of a Russian play by Mikhail Shatrov. [26] [27] He was then cast as a psycho killer, the main antagonist of the show, in the serial Darr. [27] He also played the famous revolutionary, Urdu poet and Marxist political activist of India, Makhdoom Mohiuddin, in Kahkashan, produced by Ali Sardar Jafri. [27] He performed in some of the episodes of Star Bestsellers (aired on Star-Plus). He also appeared in two episodes of the SET India serial Bhanvar. He performed in numerous television serials throughout the 1990s, including Chanakya, Bharat Ek Khoj, Sara Jahan Hamara, Banegi Apni Baat, Chandrakanta, Shrikant, AnooGoonj on Doordarshan, Star Bestsellers (Star Plus), Sparsh [28] and The Great Maratha on DD. National. [29] He featured opposite Roopa Ganguly in Basu Chatterjee's critically acclaimed drama film Kamla Ki Maut (1989). [30] In the 1990s, he appeared in the critically acclaimed films Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1990), [31] and Such a Long Journey (1998), as well as various other films, which went unnoticed. [32] In 1998, he played Valmiki in Sanjay Khan's serial Jai Hanoman Other work Other work In September 2015, he was appointed the brand ambassador for "Resurgent Rajasthan", a campaign by the state government of Rajasthan. [57] He lent his voice to the light and sound show at the war memorial for the Indian army at Vidhan Sabha Road, Jaipur. The show portrayed the valour and courage of Rajasthani soldiers, and their historic and modern triumphs in battle. [58] Personal life In February 1995, Khan married writer and fellow NSD graduate Sutapa Sikdar. They had two sons. [59] In 2012, he changed his first name from "Irfan" to "Irrfan"; he said he liked the sound of the extra "r" in his name. [60] He later dropped "Khan" from his name because — according to a 2016 interview — he wanted his work to define him, not his lineage. [61] Illness and death In March 2018, Khan revealed via a tweet that he had been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor. [62] He sought treatment in the UK for a year, returned in February 2019. [63] He was admitted to Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on 28 April 2020, where he began receiving treatment for a colon infection. [64] Khan died the following day at age 53, from the infection. [63] Multiple Bollywood personalities, including notable actors Amitabh Bachchan and Tamil actor Kamal Haasan paid tributes online upon the news of his death. [65] [66] Less than 24 hours after his death, actor Rishi Kapoor, his co-star in D-Day, died of leukemia.