Irrfan Khan is considered to be one of India’s most refined actors of all time. Khan has been able to make his place up to the International cinema audience with consecutive foreign movie’s coming his way. Khan has been considered an icon by many film goers for his realistic and powerful conception of character traits. Irrfan Khan is one of the few actors who get constant offers from Major Hollywood production houses with acclaimed directors and actors. Irrfan Khan has only been a part of a handful of movies in his long career as he is often considered to be very selective of his scripts and has been over the past few years been part of some of the finest crafted movies also dealing with social issues too. Irrfan Khan has also been advocating a serious cinema movement in the country for the past few years.
Irrfan Khan was born and brought up in a Feudal Nawab family in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The young Khan was fascinated by the stream of acting and had a chance to pursue his dreams while doing his MA when he was offered a prestigious scholarship from the National School of Drama where he went on to study acting. After completing his graduation Khan moved to Mumbai where he became a part of many well-known TV serials like, Chandrakanta, Sara Jahan Hamara and many more. Irrfan Khan had the opportunity to work with authors like Shyam Benegal in long running Dooradarsan’s series Bharat ek Khoj in 1988. Khan also had acted in a teleplay in Doordarshan, Laal Ghaas Par Neele Ghode for which he was cast as the Russian Communist revolutionary Lenin in the Indian translation of Mikhail Shatrov’s Russian play by Uday Prakash. Khan continued his stint in serials with antagonist roles in serials like Darr in which he played a psycho serial killer along with Kay Kay Menon. And also went on to reprise the life of legendary Urdu poet and Marxist Makhdoom Mohiuddin in Kahkashan a series which played tribute to six masters of modern Urdu and Islamic poetry which released in the year 1991. Khan’s performances, be it the Cheated husband in Ek Sham Ki Mulakat or the short cameo’s in other Star best sellers were well noted. He made his film acting debut in the year 1988; at a time when he was busy with a handful of serial’s in numerous channels.
Khan married his fellow student and writer at The National School of Drama, Sutapa Sikdar for 21 years now and he has two sons Babil Khan and Ayan Khan. Irrfan Khan has changed his names spelling from Irfan to Irrfan lately as he felt that the latter felt more powerful. Khan was diagnosed with "undisclosed disease",and it was shared by many media outlets that he has "brain cancer" in February 2018. The actor announced on Twitter that he would "share his story" in "a week - ten days" and asked the media and fans not to share anything. On March 16, 2018, Khan announced on Twitter that he is suffering from a neuroendocrine tumor. He had travelled to London for treatment.
Uneventful entry into cinema (1988) Khan entered the world of cinema with a short cameo in Mira Nair’s National Award winning Salaam Bombay! Though his parts where later removed out of the final film after editing. Khan got his first official release in Tapan Shah’s critical hit Ek Doctor Ki Maut starring Pankaj Kapur and Shabana Azmi had Khan in a supporting role; the project funded by NFDC did no good for Khan as it was a failed commercial outing. Khan was next seen in the emotional drama Such a Long Journey; an Indo Canadian production English language film in the year 1998 yet again in a trivial role which too shared the same fate as his previous film. Khan got encouraging reviews for his role in The Warrior in 2001 which resulted in instant recognition among audience. Khan then went on to act in the Hindi adaptation of William Shakespeare’s famous play Macbeth in which Khan reprised the title role of Macbeth by playing Miyan Maqbool which won him many accolades that year for his brand of acting. First Official Bollywood break (2005) Khan’s very first Major Bollywood movie was the 2005 thriller Rog , where Khan came under the spotlight again for his easy going approach towards conveying emotional scenes and his highly expressive eyes came to be noted by all. Khan after going through some negative lead roles in some unnoticed outings ,only to come back by winning the Filmfare Award for best villain in 2004 for his mesmerizing and hard-hitting evil looks and scary mannerisms in the movie Haasil. After another villain role in the Telengu movie Sainkudu,Khan paired opposite Konkana Sen in Life in A Metro with an huge cast which garnered highly positive reviews for his performances which raised his status to be anactor to look out for in the short tenure itself, which incidentally also saw the first super hit in Khan’s career, Khan followed up with the Indo-American drama movie Namesake in 2006 which also received rave reviews. Short return back to television (2004-2006) After delivering some quality performances in major Bollywood productions , the years 2004 up to 2006 saw his homecoming to TV with shows like Mano Ya Na Mano and Kyaa Kahein, also playing the part of the narrator for the touring programme ID-Identity of the Soul. Khan came back to acting ion 2008 playing the role of a cop in The academy Award winning British film Slum Dog Millionaire; which was set in India. The movie was a highly awaited comeback of the actor which got him back on the track delivering a solid punch with the understated performance. Khan committed next in the 2009 paranoid thriller Acid Factory with an ensemble cast which surprisingly got stunning critical reception and drew him close to action avatars in his career from there on. Khan’s outspoken performances in the social thriller New York and the American romantic anthology New York, I Love You! Both so to it that Khan maintained his position as one of the most bankable and sought after actors in B-town. First National Award in Paan Singh Tomar (2012) Paan Singh Tomar , the real life story of an athlete turned dacoit saw a major shift in Khan’s life and career and was considered his dream project for a long time; for which Khan had to undergo extensive research to study the character, and the movie was a challenging character which Khan pulled off with maximum conviction which also received hugely progressive reviews from the critics and was said to Khan’s career best till then also getting him his very first National Best Actor Award in 2012. Return to Hollywood in 2012 Khan made his return to Hollywood with the second instalment of the Amazing Spider-Man in 2012 where he played Dr.Rajit Ratha which was a pivotal character which saw his awe-inspiring return to Hollywood after the sabbatical which was followed with the crucial title role in Life of Pi by Ang Lee where he portrayed the middle aged Pi; the film is considered to be a modern day masterpiece with huge fan following worldwide. Lunch box which told a story of a epistolary relationship between two strangers who starts influencing each other in a good way. Lunch Box saw Khan at his very best where he underplayed the retiring middle ager in the most convincing of ways; a major break for the actor in Khan, and was also considered a cult movie though with a cold box office response. Recent cinema outings (2014-2016) Khan retuned to Bollywood in 2014 with the action thriller Gunday starring Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor; Gunday was yet another supporting role in Khan’s career. After doing a cameo in the romantic thriller Xpose later that year Khan was also a part of Vishal Bhardwaj’s Hindi adaptation starring Shahid Kapoor where he served in an extended cameo in the revenge drama but was able to serve his part exceptionally well. In the year 2015 Khan was seen pairing with Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone in the comedy drama Piku where Khan played an owner of a taxi agency who embarks on a life changing journey with a hot tempered young girl and her father who suffers from chronic constipation which leads to quite a turn of events which unites them on the journey to explore their inner self. Khan’s performance in the movie was considered priceless by many critics where eventually Amitabh Bachchan went on to win the National Award for Best Actor for his deadly interpretation of the mental nuances of the character. Piku was followed by Talvar which was based on the famous Noida double murder case, Khan appears as a CDI officer who investigates the case who sets out to prove the possible innocence of the parents of the dead girl in the double homicide, Khan just towered over the finally crafted proceedings with his radiant energy and his characteristic casual acting ways. Talvar was a big critical hit which Khan followed with the action movie Jazbaa that repeated the same for him. Khan was cast in the Jurassic World in the same year after which he was last seen in Tom Hank’s Inferno; although the movie only gained lukewarm responses worldwide but Khan’s character was considered to be a major highlight of the movie.
| # | Released Date | Type | Credited As | Movie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31 Dec 2021 | Film | Actor | Murder At Teesri Manzil 302 |
| 2 | 13 Mar 2020 | Film | Actor | Angrezi Medium |
| 3 | 03 Aug 2018 | Film | Actor | Karwaan |
| 4 | 06 Apr 2018 | Film | Actor | Blackmail |
| 5 | 10 Nov 2017 | Film | Actor | Qarib Qarib Singlle |
| 6 | 09 Aug 2017 | Film | Actor | The Song Of Scorpions |
| 7 | 19 May 2017 | Film | Actor | Hindi Medium |
| 8 | 22 Jul 2016 | Film | Actor | Madaari |
| 9 | 18 Dec 2015 | Film | Supporting Actor | Bajirao Mastani |
| 10 | 24 Oct 2015 | Film | Producer | Kaash |
