Note on Irrfan Khan

Why did Irrfan Khan die so soon?

It’s been a year since the legend’s death, so here, I write this article to discuss his life as a tribute.

The veteran actor who rarely requires an introduction and is known for his spectacular performances in the movies “Life of pie” and “Slumdog Millionaire” has departed his life on 29 April 2020 at the age of 54. He left fighting with colon infection, which relates to infection in the large intestine.

This infection is most probably caused due to the overgrowth of the bacteria in the large intestine and causes inflammation. There are several syndromes for this disease and varies on the type of severity and case. At the initial stage, the patient is treated for inflammation and with some anti-biotic medicines, operations, and surgery. But when this gets severe, it results in cancer and is treated with chemotherapy and other vital treatments. The person with this disease might suffer from many symptoms like a decrease in immunity power, digestion problems, swelling of colon tissue, intense pain in the stomach, etc.

He was admitted to Mumbai Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital on 28 April 2020. One of the saddest things is that khan’s mother Saeeda Begum had died on 25 April 2020. These sequential losses are a huge loss to the khan family. This actor has previously been treated with a neuroendocrine tumor in a London hospital in march 2018. This is the rare conditional phenomenon in which neuroendocrine cells develop into tumors. However, he was cured of it but later on, there were many health battles that he had fought with. He is an inspirational figure to many people for his kindness and hard work. This is a great loss to Indian cinema and its fans.

Many rumors have spread since April 28 (Wednesday), but the doctor denied that his statement was good. The next day his demise is confirmed by the official statement including the lines “…A man of few words and an actor of silent expressions with his deep eyes and his memorable actions on screen. It’s saddening that this day; we have to bring forward the news of him passing away. Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him. After having been struck by lightning in 2018 with the news of rare cancer, he took life soon after as it came and he fought the many battles that came with it. Surrounded by his love, his family for whom he most cared about, he left for heavenly abode, leaving behind truly a legacy of his own. We all pray and hope that he is at peace”.

Looking into his bio, his full name was Sahabzade Irrfan Ali Khan born to a middle-class family in Rajasthan. He had no ties in the film industry and even he was not allowed to watch movies in theatres. The only way of going to theatres was during his uncle’s arrival and he took him to the cinema halls. He made his debut with ‘Salaam Bombay’ which was released in 1988. The show which made him be recognized was “Chandrakantha” telecasted in Doordarshan. The movies which brought him fame were ‘The Lunchbox’ and ‘Maqbool’.

This veteran actor was also considered as India’s face for Hollywood with his stellar performances. He acted in international films like ‘Jurassic World’, ‘The amazing spider-man, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘Life of Pie’. He was the only Indian actor to work in a Marvel franchise.

He was also conferred with Padma Shri in 2011 and a National award for the film ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ in 2013. After his death, the lines from his heartfelt note that he wrote in 2018 while his fight with the cancer was now being circulated popularly around social media. These are the few lines from those many words are ‘I trust, I have surrendered’ and “As if I was tasting life for the first time, the magical side of it”

There is an incident that happened to witness his greatness is that he rejected the role in Christopher Nolan’s interstellar for the movie ‘The Lunchbox’. Here is an image from the scenes of Life of Pie.

He may not be on the planet, but he is always remembered for his stellar performances worldwide. Let us pray for his soul to rest in peace.