Irrfan Khan was a man of few words but eyes heavy with emotions. Last year, the actor’s untimely demise left an irreplaceable void in the industry as its powerhouse was gone. Irrfan had a huge role to play in changing the audience’s perspective towards how they view actors on screen, through the diverse roles he played. One might remember him more for the serious, comic roles or the side characters he has played, but one can’t ignore Irrfan Khan, the romantic actor, who, through his characters, painted different shades of this vast emotion called love.
Long before Piku, which is considered to be his first romantic role, we came across the goofy middle-aged Monty in Life in a Metro, who despite being desperate to find a wife, taught us to take a chance. He didn’t sing or dance or break into monologues every now and then to woo his prospective bride. He embodied an ordinary mid-thirties man who would fail to make eyes turn if he entered a room. However, he helped Konkona’s character connect with her honest feelings and made her laugh – and we found humour in his obliviousness. Here, our knight in the shining armour isn’t a one-man army trying to save his lover. Rather, he abandons his marriage and chases her on a horse in the busy streets of Mumbai and rescues her from a crowded compartment of a local train to profess his love, proving that one doesn’t need to be Hercules to have their moments of heroism.
The Namesake gave us a quintessential father and a doting husband in the form of the NRI Ashoke Ganguly- whose concealed presence made a heavier impact than words could ever have. Irrfan knew how to portray these urban characters who carried a firm sense and awareness of the places they come from.
His projection of the places his characters belonged to created a romantic aura around them. Be it Ashoke Ganguly or Saajan Fernandes from The Lunchbox, where we saw an accountant’s mundane existence receiving a lease of life over a mere box of food and condiment of endearing words. His composed smile made us believe that love is as mysterious, as it is mundane, and doesn’t need to be extravagant to be valid.
His on-screen characterization of a lover didn’t believe in being superior to his partners or the people around him. He didn’t have to forcefully invade his lover’s space to make himself noticed. Neither was his ego hurt by rejections. The stereotypical masculine, angry man was replaced by a much more sensitive, mature and calm character who made his lady love feel heard, and the audience was accepting this shift in the portrayal of romance.
In Piku, we saw Rana’s indifference gradually giving way to a very warm and intimate friendship that had romantic undertones, but never forced his lover to return his advances. The intricacies of this emotion portrayed by him often helped to blur the line between reel and real life, and despite not conforming to the description of a traditional hero, the actor became pivotal in shaping the audience’s changing perspective to the very idea of the depiction of romance on screen.
And that was possible because Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan was and always will be, one of us.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Telegram.
Comments
0 comment