Tribute: RIP Irrfan Khan, thanks for lighting up the world with your talent

For any Irrfan Khan fan it would be difficult, almost impossible, I imagine, to pick a favourite performance from his amazing repertoire, which includes memorable roles in films like The Namesake, Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire, Hindi Medium, Paan Singh Tomar and many more.

What endeared Irrfan to me forever was a chance viewing of The Lunchbox, a charming and poignant epistolary romantic film directed by Ritesh Batra that released in 2013. I remained enchanted, for weeks thereafter, by the actor's portrayal of the lonely yet stoic widower Saajan Fernandes, a straight-laced accountant who dares to dream of a different life when he starts receiving letters from a mysterious sender through a lunchbox delivery service.

I still recollect a scene that almost broke my heart - when Saajan opens up a takeaway dinner at his home, from whose windows he can see families sitting at their tables, happy and comfortable in their meals of togetherness, perhaps unaware of what it's like to be alone. While the film's ending is ambiguous, the romantic in me always hoped that Saajan and Ila (Nimrat Kaur) would have their happily ever after.

In real life, Irrfan was blessed with a wonderful family - wife Sutapa Sikdar and two sons - Babil and Ayan. His biggest battle was not perhaps one of loneliness, as portrayed in The Lunchbox, but against a rare form of cancer, a neuroendocrine tumor, with which he was diagnosed in March 2018.

He fought bravely against the disease, occasionally taking to social media to update fans and thank them for their love and support. After receiving treatment abroad, he returned to India to shoot what would be his last film, Homi Adajania's Angrezi Medium, which released in March.

As is the case with so many stories, both reel and real, Irrfan's ended tragically on Wednesday, April 29, when he passed away at the Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai. Rest In Peace, Irrfan Khan. Thank you for making us lose ourselves in the wonderful stories you were part of, that will live on. Thank you for all the positivity you brought to the world, even while fighting such a difficult battle.
enid@khaleejtimes.com