The Book ‘Irrfan: A Life in Movies”, Journeys into the Late Actor’s Professional Life and Early Days in Career

Shubhra Gupta’s book ‘Irrfan: A Life in Movies’ is a close view into the late actor, Irrfan Khan’s professional life and word from those who worked with him.

Written by: Arjita Gupta

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: 2023-06-12 09:06:19

Sutapa Sikdar, the wife of Bollywood Irrfan Khan, spoke about the late actor and the journey of his professional life at the launch event of the book ‘Irrfan: A Life in Movies”. Sutapa said that though Irrfan was a serious individual on the gentle side rather than macho, the writer-producer wanted the book to be funny. For those who are unaware of the actor’s gimmicks, he was the most critically acclaimed person in the industry, as per Bollywood news. So, when he was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer, and would pass a lot of wind because the condition affected his gut, it was funny, as per Sutapa.

And his medical journey was thus, a mix of embarrassing funny moments, and bitter ones as well. The book is available at Rs. 899. It is published by Pan Macmillan India and by Shubhra Gupta, the Indian Express film critic. The event took place in Mumbai, Lower Parel in the Quorum, making a Bollywood news uproar. The book portrays conversations with more than 30 film personalities with in-depth discussions about Khan, sharing their perspectives.

Sikdar was hesitant at first but agreed when she got to know that her husband’s professional life, Bollywood projects, will be the focus here. The book is a limelight to Khan’s life, craft, legacy, and art. Gupta got interested in writing the book from a film critic's perspective. She said that the book covers the journey of Irrfan Khan as an actor from the inception of his career. It also focused on his career milestones rather than what Bollywood news indicated him as.

According to Sikdar, she feels that Irrfan was the same in person as an actor and that he never changed himself from the core. He was not the one who wished to be in Bollywood news because of himself but the movie’s script. Be it the middle-class parent in 2017 Hindu Medium, or Qarib Qarib Single’s yogi, he was the same person as himself on screen. The actor, Danish Husain was the moderator of the discussion.

At the event, Babil (Irrfan Khan’s son) read excerpts from the book. Babil recently starred in Qala (2022), debuting in the acting world and topping the Bollywood news. Sikdar said that the late actor gave importance to his intent of the movie being offered than the character and that the film must not be preachy but entertaining. For this reason, sometimes Irrfan was believed to go through the Bollywood movie script multiple times.

Gupta has engaged in conversations with several members of the Bollywood industry who knew the actor, observed him closely, and worked with him. As stated in Bollywood news, some of the names apart from Sikdar, included in the book for the purpose, who also spoke on how Irrfan transformed the Hindi cinema are Tigmanshu Dhulia, Tillotama Shome, Mira Nair, Kejriwal, Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, Konkona Sen Sharma, Shyam Benegal, Karan Johar, Naseeruddin Shah, and others.

The book has sections about the late actor’s days at the National School of Drama, a decade-long sting in television, and then the entry into Bollywood movies. For Gupta, this is her second book after the first one published in 2016, ’50 Films that Changed Bollywood, 1995–2015’.