Irrfan Khan. Undoubtedly, the best actor of this generation who gave a stunning range of films that will keep resonating as long as we go. Whether it's a blink-and-a-miss role in "Spiderman" or a brief role in "Slumdog Millionaire" or any of the stylish performances in "Piku", "Talwar", "Pan Singh Tomar", "Life of Pi", "Maqbool", you cannot take your eyes off screen when Irrfan Khan is emoting. It doesn't matter what he is wearing or how he's shaved for the film, you have to be at your best hearing sense to grasp all the text and subtext in his acting with his murmuring accent and a swagger that doesn't look seem like a swagger.
In "Piku" you can see the sweat and blood of Deepika Padukone and a herculean effort by Amitabh Bachchan to compete for the attention of the audience whereas Irrfan Khan made it look so effortless on screen. Likewise whether he is explaining a Siska bulb benefits or a Vodafone recharge ad or doing a jig with Shah Rukh Khan at a film festival whether art films are as good as mainstream films. In spite of the irony of the 2000s where a lead actor's remuneration become as big an overhead as a budget of a film, Khan's swashbuckle and finesse in acting became a toast of every film he got associated with. Hollywood also cast him in many films but when it comes to Irrfan's lines, there was something always ethereal, magical and evocative than the other actor's lines. Yes, and the subtlety he brought to screen didn't threaten the other actors sharing space with him unlike say, a Shatrughan Sinha but enhanced the "repeat watchability quotient" of the film without an elaborate overlay or an over-assertive baritone like that of Nana Patekar.
While we never noticed who really took the baton from the arty films caravan of actors like Naseruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan created his own inimitable and enduring shelf-space in a world dominated by the three Khans until a few years ago. And unlike Naseruddin Shah, Irrfan took the torch of towering performance from film after film and passed the baton to actors like Nawazuddin Siddiqui and many other stage actors and superstars in mainstream plots and commercial films. Thank God, Tollywood also cast him in a forgettable role as a comic villain in "Sainikudu" with Mahesh Babu and Trisha. But Thank God, Tollywood didn't checkmate his fledgling career with fat cheques that would have merely created another Prakash Raj or Shaji Shinde in South Cinema.
In the finite gallery of films that Irrfan Khan got associated with including the many international collaborations that put him limelight as a draw for Asian audiences, it will remain a nonpareil feat for any other actor to beat in this generation. Most actors of his calibre would have wasted their raw talent with more commercial themes or silly gaffes or sundry makeups of a granny or a transgender or a bandit and so on. Not so in the books of Mr Khan. When he dons a role, the role becomes a reprise in the interpretation of the irrepressible Khan himself - no need for any bells and whistles of the character or any set property. It therefore becomes important that the legacy of Irrfan Khan is a fascinating history of how a late-bloomer annexed chartered and uncharted territories across the globe and built a space that even time cannot erase forever. There will be many more odes to Khan as the world wakes up to cold fact that he is no more. One of them will be how Irrfan Khan's latest film "Angrezi Medium" got released on the OTT platform amidst the Covid blackout of theaters world over. This may well be the future of all small and medium budget films and to get associated with the debut on an OTT platform also goes to the credit of Irrfan Khan. As he passes out in the holy month of Ramzan, I pray that Irrfan Khan finds peace wherever he goes next and strength to his young family who survives him. You were quite a draw, Irrfan whether we saw you first on TV, Silver screen or OTT.
Here are my top picks of Irrfan Khan's filmology:
1. LunchBox
2. Talwar
3. Piku
4. The Namesake
4. Maqbool
5. Life of Pi
6. Life in a Metro
7. Pan Singh Tomar
8. Hindi Medium
9. Qarib Qarib Single
10. Carvan
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