PORTRAIT OF A STAR

SHUBHRA GUPTA'S IRRFAN: A LIFE IN MOVIES IS A COLLECTION OF CONVERSATIONS WITH IRRFAN KHAN'S CLOSE ASSOCIATES

- Sunil Sethi

IRRFAN A Life in Movies

by Shubhra Gupta

PAN MACMILLAN

₹899; 408 pages 

Not long before Irrfan Khan’s death from cancer in 2020, Naseeruddin Shah received a message from him saying “Knock, knock, Naseer bhai”. Shah promptly rang him to ask how he was feeling. After a diversionary chat, Irrfan spoke words that moved Shah deeply: “Ab kya karein, how many people have the opportunity to see death approaching?...I wanted to do more with my life, but never got the chance. I don’t hold that against fate.”