The best Irrfan Khan movies: The 'every man' actor (Part II)

Irrfan in Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns (2013)

The forbidding grind of formula-ridden Indian movies has been the graveyard of many dazzling gifted actors.

Ashish Vidyarthi made a scene-stealing debut in Govind Nihalani’s Drohkaal (1994) and then frittered away playing the one-note villain in umpteen average movies.

Sayaji Shinde was incredible as the deranged villain in E Nivas’ Shool (1999), then went on repeat mode, shutting the door on doing anything different.

Irrfan with Arjun Rampal in D-Day (2013)

What kept Irrfan going?

Irrfan Khan in the nineties was bidding his time in television, getting bored of playing the same character in endless episodes, doing an occasional movie, but never succumbing to the hundreds of terrorist characters and other typecast roles he was been offered. Irrfan was adamant that he will be a part of exciting, relevant content, roles that he will enjoy doing.

In fact, he was on the verge of quitting acting when Asif Kapadia’s The Warrior (2001) came through.

What kept Irrfan going from 1988 to 2001 and beyond? In a freewheeling conversation conducted a few years ago with another great actor (and his inspiration), Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan said:

“I was too driven to learn the craft.”

“I had to keep my inspiration going. I first thing I did from my first earning was to get a VCR. Then I started watching you know, to keep myself engaged, not to get bored from my profession. That was my struggle, and it was a long struggle.“

Here is the chronological continuation and concluding second part (first part link here) of Irrfan’s best movies:

The Lunchbox (2013)

Life is strange…
I think we forget things
if we have no one to tell them to…

A misplaced lunchbox, a dreary city, an exchange of letters, a unique companionship, humour, friendship, fragrance of love, beautiful musings, and a melancholic finale.

The Lunchbox is the movie that Irrfan will be most remembered for, eventually.

How Irrfan shapes Saajan Fernandes, a quiet widower, an accountant on the verge of retirement into a likable character is stuff of legend.

The silences emit from Irrfan’s being, and the monologues touch not just Ila, the expert cook and neglected wife, but each one of us. It’s like Fernandes is consoling the world with his letters.

The Lunchbox also features superb acts by Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

I hate the ending though.

Haider (2014)

Main tha, main hoon
aur main hi rahoonga…
(I was, I am,
and I will be…)

Hamlet is probably the most adapted Shakespeare play, so many great movies have borrowed elements from Hamlet, from Gladiator (2000) to The Lion King (1994), even formula-ridden movies like Karz (1980).

Vishal Bharadwaj’s stark, steely Hamlet adaptation is an exception in the list, the movie barely features Irrfan. So why is it featured here? Screen time does not prevent a great actor from making a searing impact. Irrfan never vies for attention, the honesty and understanding of the role is complete.

Catch the movie to see how the dynamics change when Irrfan appears on the screen as Roohdaar, the Ghost from Hamlet and lights up the screen with his mere presence. The background score emphasizes on why Roohdaar is the key. It is a brief but decisive role. Many actors look vain, conscious and are guilty of posturing in an entry scene, not Irrfan.

It’s like he had been studying and imbibing acting through a microscope.

Piku (2015)

Death aur shit …
yeh do cheezen kisi ko, kahin bhi,
kabhi bhi aa sakti hai

(Death and shit…
these two things can happen
to anyone, anywhere, anytime)

Finally, Irrfan got his big Hindi mainstream hit with Piku, triumphant acting moments among huge commercial stars – the veteran Amitabh Bachchan and the lovely, sharp Deepika Padukone.

It was only fitting that director Shoojit Sircar, the best Indian director in the last decade to balance commerce and art in wonderful movies as varied as the political thriller Madras Cafe (2013) and the sperm donor social comedy Vicky Donor (2012), had Irrfan in a uniquely funny, life-affirming Juhi Chaturvedi-written Road trip comedy that centered on, hold your noses – shit!

Irrfan does better than the great and sometimes too-rehearsed Bachchan here. His chemistry with Padukone is cinema magic, the effortlessness with which he decorates his transport service owner act is a joy to behold.

The enigma about Irrfan’s performances will always be the unbelievable ease and rhythm, it was never more or less, always the right amount of salt in a masterpiece dish.

A duck appears calm floating on the water’s surface, but underwater, the webbed feet are in intense movement. Probably that was the effect Irrfan had mastered, we will never know, and we will always wonder how the heck did he make it look so easy.

The magician has taken his secrets to the grave.

Irrfan with Bryce Dallas Howard in Jurassic World (2015)

Afterword

Before Irrfan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumor in 2018, he was at his awe-inspiring peak.

I watched the otherwise flawed road trip comedy Karwaan twice for Irrfan at the theaters.

I did an article last year titled Get well soon, Irrfan Khan featuring the final performances of the actor before the disease struck him, to celebrate his rare, wondrous craft and to wish for his return to good health and the movies.

It was not to be.

The article is now titled Rest in Peace, Irrfan Khan: The best of his final performances

I have been an Irrfan fan for over a decade now and his death seems like losing a friend you always wanted to meet in person.

I can’t thank you enough, Irrfan Khan!

I owe him for lighting up my life forever, for giving me a charming, intricate, deep personal view on what it is to be alive, to be human.

Irrfan with Radhika Madan in his last released movie Angrezi Medium (2020)

The best Irrfan Khan movies: The ‘every man’ actor (Part II)

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