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Irrfan Khan was one of Indian cinema’s finest actors and among its most successful exports to Hollywood.
A veteran of nearly 80 films, he almost gave up acting in his 30s – after an unrewarding decade in TV soaps.
Khan lacked the looks for a traditional Bollywood romantic lead but made his name as a character actor in Hindi cinema and in Hollywood productions like Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire and Jurassic World.
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Irrfan Khan starred in the Hollywood blockbuster, Jurassic World. He played the ill-fated, billionaire owner of the dinosaur park.
Deeply introspective and philosophical in nature, Khan would speak candidly and often controversially about both his Muslim religion and the film industries in which he worked.
“I always object to the word Bollywood,” he once told the Guardian. “That industry has its own technique that… has nothing to do with aping Hollywood. It originates in Parsi theatre.
“Hollywood is too planned. India has no planning at all. It’s more spontaneous and informal. India could be more formal and Hollywood more spontaneous.”
In truth, few actors can claim to have mastered both genres as well as Irrfan Khan.
Early life
He was born Sahabzada Irfan Ali Khan on 7 January, 1967 in the Rajasthan village of Tonk.
His mother’s family had a royal lineage and his father was a wealthy, self-made businessman who owned a tyre business.
Khan dropped the “Sahabzada” from his name as it pointed to his family’s privileged past – he felt this would get in the way. He also changed his name from “Irfan” to “Irrfan” – not for any noble motive – but simply because he preferred the way it sounds.
When his father died, he side-stepped expectations he would go into the tyre business. He was determined to become an actor, although it was not a future his family and friends could easily foresee.
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Irrfan Khan, seen here in Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster, starred in dozens of Indian films
“No-one could have imagined I would be an actor, I was so shy. So thin. But the desire was so intense.”
In 1984, he applied for a scholarship to the National School of Drama in Delhi. He lied about his previous experience in the theatre and got in.
“I thought I would suffocate if I didn’t get admission,” he told one interviewer.
It was at drama school that he also met his future wife – the writer Sutapa Sikdar.
“He was always focused. I remember when he would come home, he would head straight for the bedroom, sit on the floor, and read books. The rest of us would be hanging around gossiping,” she recalled.
Taking what work he could get
He was keen to work in film but the early roles were in India’s TV soap operas. With dozens of cable channels – each carrying multiple domestic daily dramas – the work was easy to come by but artistically unsatisfying.
For a decade he got stuck in hundreds of uninspiring parts “chasing middle-class housewives” on the Zee and Star Plus networks. He thought seriously about quitting acting.
“Once they didn’t even pay me because they thought my acting was so bad,” he claimed.
His big screen debut was a further disappointment. Cast as one of the younger characters in Mira Nair’s Oscar nominated Salaam Bombay!, he was devastated when his character hit the cutting room floor.
The scriptwriter sympathised bu