Freida Pinto Says Irrfan Khan Represented India with Achingly High Levels of Grace
The passing away of legendary actor Irrfan Khan came as a devastating blow to the Indian film industry. Speaking of Irrfan, his co-star Freida Pinto in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has written a heartwarming post on Irrfan Khan.
The passing away of legendary actor Irrfan Khan came as a devastating blow to the Indian film industry. He had been taking treatment in the UK when he was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour in March 2018. Things seemed to look brighter when the actor made a comeback this year with the film ‘Angrezi Medium.’
No one in the least expected that the ‘Namesake’ actor would pass away so soon and so suddenly leaving behind a bereaved family and the film industry perplexed. Unfortunately, his mother had passed away in Jaipur three days before his death and he couldn’t be with her during her last moments.
The film industry was barely coming to grips with his death that they experienced another big blow. Following Irrfan’s death, legendary actor Rishi Kapoor’s death occurred unexpectedly. He was 67 and like Irrfan he too was battling cancer for months.
Speaking of Irrfan, his co-star Freida Pinto in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has written a heartwarming post on Irrfan Khan and how he was as an amazing colleague to work with. “How lucky was I, a complete little mess of a newbie, to have him as a role model.”
She further added, “This one has hit me hard. A VOID that can NEVER be filled because there was simply no one like Irrfan Khan. His grace and dignity along with his monumental talent as an artist, actor - a portrayer of humanity in all its shapes and forms made me not only have deep admiration for him but I instinctively wanted to emulate that grace in my career as well.”
She recollects a “powerful and beautiful” memory of Irrfan during ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ award ceremony. Despite ‘A Hollywood celebs’ walking past by them on the red carpet, Irrfan carried himself and represented his country with “achingly high levels of grace.” Their presence didn’t perturb him. Freida Pinto admitted that she was incredibly lucky to have him as a role model when she was a newcomer.
When BBC spoke to Danny Boyle, the director of Slumdog Millionaire’, he revealed that Irrfan bagged a relatively small role in the movie. He was advised by a studio executive to “just get that guy.” According to Danny, Irrfan had a big role to play in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ bagging the Oscars.
Freida Pinto urges those who haven’t seen his work to watch his films be it the ‘Namesake’, ‘Piku’, ‘Life of Pi’, or the iconic film ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’ She concluded her post saying, “Start somewhere, anywhere! I promise you...Irrfan Khan will be FOREVER carved in your memories too!”