Irrfan, one of India’s finest actors, died in 2020 at the age of 53. He died at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, where he was admitted due to a colon infection while battling a neuroendocrine tumour since 2018. He left an impressive body of work, including the romantic comedy Qarib Qarib Singlle. Actor Parvathy, who co-starred with Irrfan in the film, recalled working with him in a chat with Pinkvilla.
What Parvathy said about Irrfan
When a fan present during the chat asked Parvathy about her experience of working with Irrfan, she began, “I don’t think we talk enough about death. As a society I don’t think we are doing a great job talking about grief. We have lost a person who has experienced life and you have shared those moments with them, so allow to feel that grief. Whenever I am asked about Irrfan or Puneet [Rajkumar] even, they are two of my co-stars that we have lost and I can’t believe it. It doesn’t make sense that they are not here… I don’t have the words to express it still.”
‘We don’t realise how lucky we are to be breathing’
She added, “Irrfan used to say, ‘Abhi toh sirf shuruat hain (It is just the beginning).’ During the shoot of Qarib Qarib Singlle, he was so excited about this new chapter in his life. We don’t realise how lucky we are to be breathing, because it doesn’t make sense that I am alive and he is not. I don’t understand the logic of that. He lived every day with such childlike curiosity. He was that person, he was such a bouncing ball. If I were to think about him, which I try to avoid, because then we have to think about the fact that he is not here with us, it is the fact that he was kind and gentle. He was excited about life. I cherish that memory a lot.”
About Irrfan’s career
After appearing in several television programmes, Irrfan made his screen debut in the Academy Award-nominated 1988 film, Salaam Bombay! He went on to show his range as an actor in projects such as Maqbool, Haider, Piku and The Lunchbox. Besides earning a name for his work in the Hindi film industry, Irrfan also carved a special place for himself globally with projects such as Life of Pi, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Inferno, among others.
In 2018, the actor announced to the world that he’d been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour. “I hope to be back with more stories to tell,” he’d written in a social media post back then. He died in 2020 after a long battle with the disease. He was last seen in comedy drama Angrezi Medium, a sequel to his 2017 blockbuster Hindi Medium. Irrfan is survived by his wife Sutapa Sikdar and has two sons: Babil and Ayan.
