Even though actor Irrfan Khan is not with us anymore, he lives on through his brilliant performances and sweet memories shared by his loved ones. On the late actor’s birth anniversary, his family and friends are reminiscing the wonderful times they shared with one of the finest actors in Indian cinema.
Revealing that the late actor never believed in celebrating birthdays, Irrfan’s elder son Babil Khan said he could not forget his father’s birthday this time even if he tried.
Sharing a video, Babil wrote,
“You never identified with institutions such as contractual marriage and birthday celebrations. Perhaps, that is why I don’t remember anyone’s birthdays because you never remembered mine and never encouraged me to remember yours. It was just normal to us what seemed absurd from the outside, we celebrated everyday (bringing personal experiential authenticity to the cliche). On the occasion, Mamma would have to remind us both; but this time I could not forget yours if I tried. It’s your birthday Baba. Shoutout to all the technologically inept parents, notice that they did not finish saying that they miss me.”
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who worked with Irrfan in ‘Rog’, shared an emotional note quoting the words of an anonymous poet for the late actor. He wrote, “The sun goes down but its gentle warmth still lingers on the land.”
He added,
“Today, on Irrfan’s birthday, the memory of him fills me with warmth. 2020 has been a catastrophic year for the whole world. And for many of us, who have lost our loved ones, it has been brutal. But for every joy that passes, something beautiful remains. Irrfan, my friend, the memories of the time we spent together continues to flicker in my heart.”
Tigmanshu Dhulia, who had directed Irrfan in films like Haasil (2003) and Paan Singh Tomar (2012), was quoted saying by TOI,
“Both Irrfan and I don’t remember birthdays easily. Naa usko yaad rehta tha na mujhe. I don’t know how I feel and how I should feel right now. It’s weird. Aaj Irrfan ka birthday hai and he is not here. It feels strange that I’ll never be able to wish him again. There is a void that I realise will now be a part of our lives for as long as we live. I feel so happy that we worked together on some of his most memorable films. It’s like a huge benchmark that he created and I measure everyone’s performance with that. The work we did together continues to have a life of its own. I can never say goodbye to Irrfan.”
Apart from being a powerhouse performer, Irrfan was an artistic person too. Isha Bhansali, who often styled Irrfan’s outfits, revealed,
“Irrfan was an artistic person. He had knowledge of all kinds of art. In his house, he had a collection of beautiful artefacts from various cultures that he proudly put on display. Likewise, he had an amazing taste in fashion. What impressed me was that he knew about how an outfit should fit. I wouldn’t do trials with him as he’d take one look at an outfit and guess if it would fit him or not!”
Shoojit Sircar who collaborated with the late actor for the 2015 hit film ‘Piku’ shared fond memories with the actor. He was quoted saying by Yahoo!,
“He has left a vacuum. If you ask me what the biggest loss was in 2020, I would say Irrfan Khan was the biggest loss to the film industry. I wish him luck and joy wherever he is in his magical world that he would always speak about. I GUESS HE is finally in his magical world. What stood about Irrfan was his spirit as a human being. His simplicity of belief in humanity. Those things I remember about him. Especially during his later days, he would talk more about spirituality. We would discuss it. We exchanged books in the last two years when he was going through his treatment. We had a lot of conversations about many other things minus the cinema.”
We miss you Irrfan. You will forever be a part of our hearts.