Irrfan Khan, one of the finest actors in the Indian Cinema, known for his natural acting and versatility. Irrfan’s story is a motivation for everyone who wants to make a career in acting industry. He had no family background in the Bollywood, no godfather, no overnight success story, but a story of hard work, talent, and struggle. Irrfan is someone who broke the stereotypes in Bollywood, with his unconventional looks and sheer acting skills he made a name for himself. After graduating from NSD, he acted in numerous TV shows like Chanakya, Bharat Ek Khoj, Sara Jahan Hamara, Banegi Apni Baat, Chandrakanta, Shrikant. Been a TV regular from 1994-1998, but his dream was the big screen. Mira Nair offered him a role in Saalam Bombay, however his role was edited out in the final film.
Irrfan appeared in many critically acclaimed films like Ek Doctor Ki Maut, but he didn’t get the recognition he deserved. It was Asif Kapadia’s ‘The Warrior’ which made him a known face. But still Bollywood was war. His lead role in ‘Maqbool’ made the Bollywood to look at him. Irrfan’s first Bollywood lead role was in ‘Rog’ for which he received rave reviews and a lot of appreciation. But it was ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ which made Khan a globally popular actor. After then there was no stopping; his films like Paan Singh Tomar, Piku, Talvar brought him in the race to the number one slot.
Despite his powerful performances in Bollywood and an impressive Hollywood career, Irrfan doesn’t consider him in the race, he doesn’t want to be the number one. He believes that staying away from this rat-race is what helps him to stay versatile and creative. Irrfan Said,
“I don’t want to be number one. I will detest that position where I will lose my freedom to choose my subject, just because my films are too big.”
Irrfan Khan’s latest release ‘Madaari’ so far has collected Rs 2.25 cr on Friday and Rs 3.50 on Saturday in India, taking the two day total to just Rs 5.75. Critics appreciated the movie, fans called it an entertainer. Everyone praised Irrfan’s performance, but a good story, a good actor wasn’t sufficient to attract more audience and sell seats. The actor doesn’t seem to be worried about the box office game. He said,
“As a producer or an actor I always want my film to earn more than the expenditure. But I am not in the number game of Rs 100 or 200 crore. I don’t think about it at all. I just want my films to do good.”
During the promotion of Madaari, Irrfan was seen contacting the PM Modi and CM Keriwal of Delhi. Irrfan seemed to be concerned about certain issues. Irrfan Khan further said,
“It is not a gimmicky attempt for promotion. The social issues I addressed during the promotions are something I have always been vocal about. It is not because my film was coming out so I decided to give my opinion. I said what I wanted to, but I didn’t know which thing will grow out of proportion. Promotion for me is just a struggle to inform people about the film and nothing more than that. I don’t have that much money to give ads every five minutes. I try to evolve with each film and understand the strategy of promoting a film. I don’t want to do gimmicks to promote my film.” Irrfan also has no desire to join politics.”