Remembering Irrfan on his death anniversary: Here’s why he was one of a kind

Irrfan may have left too early but the actor continues to live among his fans through his work, his ideologies and the way he led life.

He led by example in various aspects of life. From rejecting major Hollywood projects just because he had said yes to a Hindi film to frowning upon actors being given the status of heroes. Not just in his career, Irrfan was a special soul for his family too. He didn’t celebrate their birthdays nor expected them to remember his. Just like this, there were quite a few interesting things about Irrfan which made him a class apart from his contemporaries. Read on…

Among Indian actors, Irrfan had done the most amount of quality work in Hollywood with multiple films to his credit. However, he never made any noise around it nor undermined his Hindi projects compared to Hollywood offers. He let go of a “lengthy, pivotal role” in Ridley Scott’s The Martian because he had committed his dates to Piku.

He also rejected Intersteller for The Lunchbox and D-Day and called it one of the most difficult decisions of his life. He told Bombay Times, “I had to stay in the US for four months at a stretch. I tried to work out my schedule and suggested if I could shuttle between India and the US as it wouldn’t have been possible for me to be there for that long. I wanted to be here for The Lunchbox and D-Day. They couldn’t allow that. I don’t have a tendency to regret what I do, but knowing it’s a Christopher Nolan film, I can say that this has been one of the most difficult decisions I’ve made.”

Irrfan was against actors being worshipped as heroes
Irrfan was one of the best actors India ever produced and had also done a lot of credible work in the West. But the actor never agreed with actors being considered as heroes or youth icons. “It pains me when a film actor or a cricketer is a youth icon. I don’t have anything against them. They are great entertainers; they are useful to the society. They contribute to people’s lives. But they are not heroes,” he once told Times of India.

Irrfan had said ‘no’ to launching Babil
Irrfan had said a clear ‘no’ when he was asked about launching Babil in one of the interviews. He had told Asian Age, “It’s not a question of money; it’s a question of their own interest, and that’s the right way to go about it. You have to find your passion and start pursuing that. Everything then falls into place. When it’s time to choose, you better choose something that you will love doing.” After his death, Babil shared Irrfan’s reaction to GQ magazine when he told the ailing actor about his interest in acting. Irrfan had told Babil, “You’re screwed. I’m really good at what I do. You’ll have to be very, very good at this.”

Irrfan didn’t believe in birthday celebrations
It didn’t come as a surprise when Babil Khan revealed that Irrfan didn’t believe in remembering birthdays of anyone, forget about celebrating them. Remembering him on his first death anniversary on January 7 in 2021 after his death, Babil had shared a candid video of his video chat with Irrfan, mom Sutapa Sikdar and younger brother Ayaan Khan. Remembering Irrfan on his birth anniversary in the emotional post, Babil had written along with it, “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.”

Last year, Sutapa shared pictures from her birthday celebration hosted by her sons and friends and said while sharing the pictures on Facebook, “Mere irrfan Her saal mere saalgirah bhulne ke leeye jao aakhir tumhe maine maaf kiya (Go Irrfan, I finally forgive you for never remembering my birthday).”

Irrfan didnt believe in the conventional ‘marriage’
Irrfan had a happy married life with wife Sutapa and sons Babil and Ayaan but he wasn’t into the notion of what many understand as a conventional marriage. Even Babil said in one of his posts that Irrfan ‘didnt believe in contractual marriage’. In one of her first posts after Irrfan’s death in 2020, Sutapa had also written in her emotional note on Facebook, “It’s difficult to explain what a wondrous, beautiful, overwhelming, painful and exciting this journey has been. I find this two-and-a-half years to have been an interlude, which had it’s own beginning, middle and culmination with Irrfan helming the role of the orchestra conductor, separate from the 35 years of our companionship. Ours was not a marriage, it was a union.”

Irrfan was against processions and animal sacrifice
Irrfan had once spoken about the ritual of animal sacrifice on Eid and processions on Muharram. He had said at a press event during the promotions of his film Madaari in 2016, “Rather than fasting during Ramzan, people should self-introspect. Animals are being slaughtered on in the name of qurbaani during Muharram. We, Muslims, have made a mockery of Muharram. It is meant for mourning and what we do? Take out processions.”