Irrfan Khan - The Man, The Dreamer, The Star - Aseem Chhabra.
My Rating: 4/5.
Irrfan Khan will undoubtedly show up in my all-time favourite actors list from world over, and that too almost at the top of the list, if I may say so. His biography had been on my list for quite a while, even though he wasn’t sure when Aseem approached him for the same, saying “pata nahin kaisi kitab hogi yeh”, in typical Irrfan Khan style. I am super glad that I kept my faith in Aseem Chhabra and got the book; it was indeed a fantastic experience to live all those movies that I’ve seen and enjoyed just for the fact that Irrfan acted in them. Now, after knowing the background stories of almost all of them, I am craving to watch them all again with new perspectives. What a versatile actor he was, not only in Hindi movies, but his resume from the West too reads quite well and impressively. Going by the facts, because of his commitment to a few fantastic movies in India, he had to turn down Directors like Ridley Scott (Martian) and my favourite Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), can you believe that? Now I will watch them again, and especially will keep an eye on those actors who replaced him in those movies. So many Indian Directors confess that at times they gave him a free hand when it came to playing a character, as he was so devoted to his character that he would create his background to place the same to the best of his knowledge, and the result? We have all seen it on screen. Imagine when Irrfan Khan went to USA and came across Mark Ruffalo (hulk fame) sitting in a restaurant, he was too reluctant to say hello but keen to not to miss the opportunity, and then Mark gets up and says hey to him saying “I love the work you have done, man”, incredible isn't it. You’ve got to read what his idols (Naseeruddin Shah and others) have to say about the legend that he became in such a short time and left us way too early.
The best part about the book is the way Author has captured Irrfan’s thoughts in his ways, so believable are those words that I felt as if he dicatated them to him, although Aseem confessed that he never got the opportunity to meet him in details to write the book but had to make do with a few phone calls that he could make while he was recovering from Cancer in London. As he expected that he would make a full recovery and would get enough time to support the book, which never happened. But it was fantastic to see so many people from the Industry, his friend circle, fellow students from the institutes that he attended coming forward to pour their hearts out for the man who was loved by all. This will be one very short Biography that I will never forget and will read again as and when I watch his movies again. A must-read for all, especially for those who admired Irrfan Khan and his works.
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