| Irrfan Khan |
|---|
|
| Born | Sahabzade Irrfan Ali Khan[1]
7 January 1967 (age 47)[2]
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India |
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| Other names | Irfan |
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| Ethnicity | Pathan |
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| Occupation | Film actor |
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| Years active | 1988–present |
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| Religion | Islam |
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| Spouse(s) | Sutapa Sikdar (1995–present) |
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| Website |
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| www.irrfan.com |
Sahabzade Irrfan Ali Khan (born 7 January 1967), credited as
Irrfan Khan or simply
Irrfan, is an
Indian film actor known for his works predominantly in
Bollywood. He is also known for his works in British Indian films,
Hollywoodventures, and a
Telugu film.
[3][4]
In India, Khan gained the reputation of a skilled actor from his roles in Bollywood movies such as
The Warrior,
Maqbool,
Haasil,
Charas: A Joint Effort,
Paan Singh Tomar,
Knock Out,
Gunday,
The Lunchbox, and
Rog. He also hosted the TV show
Mano Ya Na Mano and appeared in popular
Vodafone commercials. In 2012 he appeared in the title role in
Paan Singh Tomar, a biopic about an athlete. Both the movie and Khan's performance received critical acclaim. As of 2013, he had appeared in more than 30 films in Bollywood.
Early life and background[edit]
Khan was born in
Jaipur, to a Muslim family. Khan's mother, Begum, was from the Tonk Hakim family, and his father, the late Jagirdar, was from the Khajuriya village near the
Tonk district and ran a
tyre business.
[6][7][8] Khan was studying for his MA degree when he earned a scholarship to study at
National School of Drama (NSD) in New Delhi in 1984.
Khan moved to
Mumbai, where he acted in numerous television serials, including
Chanakya,
Bharat Ek Khoj,
Sara Jahan Hamara,
Banegi Apni Baat,
Chandrakanta (
Doordarshan), "AnooGoonj" on "Doordarshan"
Star Bestsellers (
Star Plus), and
Sparsh. Earlier, he had acted in a teleplay on Doordarshan named
Laal Ghaas Par Neele Ghode where he played
Lenin. It was based on a translation by
Uday Prakash of a Russian play by Mikhail Shatrov. He was the main villain in a series called
Darr (which aired on
Star Plus), where he played the role of a psycho serial killer, opposite
Kay Kay Menon. He also played the role of famous revolutionary Urdu poet and Marxist political activist of India
Makhdoom Mohiuddin in
Kahkashan, produced by
Ali Sardar Jafri.
He acted in some of the episodes of
Star Bestsellers (aired on Star-Plus). In one of the episodes (Ek Sham Ki Mulakat), his role was of a
parchoon shopkeeper who has a misconception that his landlord's wife is trying to seduce him and it turns out that his own wife (
Tisca Chopra) is
cheating on him. In the other one, he played the role of an office accountant who, after being insulted by his female boss, took revenge. He also appeared in a serial called
Bhanvar (aired on
SET India) for two episodes. In one episode, he performed the role of a thug who somehow lands in court. Theatre and television kept him afloat until
Mira Nair offered him a
cameo in
Salaam Bombay! (1988) though his role was edited out in the final film.
In the 1990s he appeared in the critically acclaimed films
Ek Doctor Ki Maut and
Such a Long Journey (1998) and various other films which went unnoticed. After many unsuccessful films, things changed when London-based director
Asif Kapadiagave him the lead in
The Warrior, a historical film completed in 11 weeks on location in
Himachal Pradesh and
Rajasthan. In 2001
The Warrior opened in international film festivals, making Khan a known face.
[9]
In 2003–04 he acted in
Ashvin Kumar's short film, "Road to Ladakh". After the film received rave reviews
[10] at international festivals, the film is now being made into a full-length feature starring Khan.
[11] That same year he played the title role in the critically acclaimed
Maqbool, an adaptation of
Shakespeare's
Macbeth.
His first
Bollywood lead role came in 2005 with film
Rog. His performance was praised by critics; one wrote, "Irfaan's eyes speak louder than his words and every time he is in frame, be it talking to his buddy Munish or arguing with Suhel, he shows his capability as an actor".
[12] Thereafter he appeared in several films either playing the leading role or a supporting role as a
villain. In 2004 he won the
Filmfare Best Villain Award for his role in film
Haasil. Critics praised his performance in
Haasil, saying that "as the ambitious, brash, fearless goon who is mind-blowing. He is outright scary and makes you sit up, wondering what he'll do next".
[13]
In 2008, he was featured as a narrator in an Arts Alliance production,
id – Identity of the Soul. The performance toured worldwide, with tens of thousands turning out to see the event as it toured the
West Bank. He also plays the police inspector in the 2008 film
Slumdog Millionaire, for which he and the cast of the movie won a
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. About him, Danny Boyle said, "he has an instinctive way of finding the "moral center" of any character, so that in Slumdog, we believe the policeman might actually conclude that Jamal is innocent. Boyle compares him to an athlete who can execute the same move perfectly over and over. "It's beautiful to watch."
[14]
He recently worked on the third season of the HBO series
In Treatment, enacting the part of Sunil, who is finding it difficult to come to terms with his wife's death and loneliness after moving to New York.
Khan played Dr. Rajit Ratha in
The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012.
[16] Khan played the adult version of Piscine "Pi" Molitor Patel in the film adaptation of
Life of Pi. In both
Spider-Man and
Life of Pi, Khan's characters refer to a
Richard Parker, Peter Parker's father and a Bengal Tiger respectively.
In 2014, Khan appeared in
Gunday, which was a moderate box office success. He also made guest appearances in the films
The Xpose and
Haider, playing an important role in the latter. On 28 February 2014, Khan was cast as an antagonist in the upcoming 2015 film
Jurassic World.
Personal life[edit]
On 23 February 1995, Khan married writer Sutapa Sikdar, who is also an NSD graduate. They have two children named Babil and Aryan.
[1]
He has two brothers, Imran Khan and Salman Khan and one sister Rukhsana Begum.
Sutapa said about him, "He was always focused. I remember when he would come home, he would head straight for the bedroom, sit on the floor, and read books. The rest of us would be hanging around gossiping." Even now, as reads through at least one new Hollywood script a week, he believes in doing his homework, staying up till 3 in the morning, taking notes, trying to understand ways to play his character. Sikdar recalls how he would demand as many as 11 rewrites from her when he directed episodes of Banegi Apni Baat. "Once he dragged me to a police station in Mumbai to understand procedure," she recalls.
[17] Recently, he has changed his name to Irrfan. He also said he likes the sound of the extra "r" in his name.
[18]
Civilian honors[edit]
- National Film Awards
- Filmfare Awards
Other awards[edit]
Nominations[edit]
Filmography[edit]
Television[edit]
