Irrfan Khan, iconic Bollywood actor, dies at 53 

Irrfan Khan (January 7, 1967–April 29, 2020)

New Delhi: Irrfan Khan, one of India’s best-known and most beloved actors, has died, on Wednesday. He was 53. 

Khan was admitted to Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, on Tuesday, following a colon infection, where he breathed his last. Khan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour, a rare type of brain cancer, in March 2018, and had returned to India after undergoing a long treatment in London a few months ago.

Khan’s mother, with whom he was closely attached, died last week. However, he was unable to attend her last rites because of the ongoing nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

Irrfan Khan was born in Tonk, Rajasthan, on January 7, 1967. He came from a family of Pathans. Khan attended the National School of Drama in New Delhi and started his acting career soon after. After playing mainly supporting and character roles for more than a decade, especially on television, he broke into leading roles in Bollywood in the early 2000s.  He got his first award for the 2004 film “Haasil”, where he won the Filmfare best villain award.

Some of Khan’s memorable Bollywood films are: “Maqbool” (2003), “Rog” (2005), “Life in a … Metro” (2007), “Pan Singh Tomar” (2013), “The Lunchbox” (2014), “Hindi Medium” (2018), etc.

Some of his memorable foreign films are: “The Warrior” (2001), “The Namesake” (2006), “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008), “Acid Factory” (2009), “The Amazing Spiderman” (2012), “Life of Pi” (2012), “Jurassic World” (2015), etc.

In 2012, he changed his first name from “Irfan” to “Irrfan”. The reason, he said, was he “liked the sound of the extra ‘r’ in his name”. He later dropped his “Khan” surname. He later said he wanted his work to define him, not his lineage.

Khan is survived by his wife, Sutapa Sikdar, and two sons, Babil and Ayan.

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