So what do you say about an actor who let us in on his fearsome health crisis with characteristic restraint? What do you say about an actor who will now forever be remembered as someone who contracted an illness as, in his words, rare as the roles he sought? How do you commemorate an actor who defied categories and trends to emerge a singular, unstoppable force?
We can begin with that simple descriptor – an actor. Even as India stayed home during the lockdown – the lucky ones who can lay claim to that privilege – huddled in fear and gloom, news came in of the passing of an actor who exemplified the human spirit. As we collectively confront our frailty and mortality, Irrfan’s passing is a low blow. But why all this grief over an actor?
Here’s where it gets heartbreaking. I will try to articulate the feeling through my private lens of grief.
It’s difficult to be surprised these days, especially when it comes to news about celebrities’ past lives. Everything seems to have been unearthed or confessed, from childhood fantasies to fitness regimens. And so it was a strange experience to discover Irrfan’s birth name only once he had passed on. Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan. Now there’s a princely name if there ever was one. Although he had shrunk his name to Irrfan years ago, the splendour of the regal title seems like a fitting honorific. There is no dearth of Khans in the industry; we have them all, from the obnoxious to the immaculate. Although Irrfan’s reasons for abbreviating his elaborate name were perhaps numerology-based, it seemed right when he actually did it. A name that stood out tall, just like this anomaly in Bollywood.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
A Sky Full Of Thoughts
Artist James Turrell’s ‘Twilight Epiphany Skyspace’ brings together the many nuances of architecture, time, space, light and music in a profound experience that blurs boundaries and lets one roam free within their own minds
We Are Looking into It
Swiss-based artists Jojakim Cortis and Adrian Sonderegger talk to us about the evolving meaning and purpose of photography and the many perspectives it lends to history
Cracked Wide Open
Building one of the world’s largest domes was no mean task for anyone, let alone an amateur goldsmith, so how did Filippo Brunelleschi accomplish building not one, but two of them?
In Search of a Witness
In conversation with legendary artist Arpana Caur on all things epiphanic, on all things pandemic, and on all things artistic
Where the Shadows Speak
The founder of Sarmaya Arts Foundation takes us through the bylanes of his journey with Sindhe Chidambara Rao, the custodian of the ancient art form of shadow puppetry – Tholu Bommalata
Bodies in Motion
What happens to the memory of a revelatory experience when it is re-watched through the frames of a screen? It somehow makes the edges sharper and the focal point clearer, as we discover through Chandralekha’s iconic Sharira
Faces in the Water
As physical ‘masks’ become part of our life, we take a look at artists working with different aspects of ‘faces’ and the things that lurk beneath the surface.
A Meeting at the Threshold
The immortal actor exemplified all that is admirable about his profession, from his creative choices to his work philosophy, and his passing was a low blow. This is our tribute to the prince among stars – Irrfan
The Imperfect Layout To The Imperfect Mystery
Jane De Suza’s ‘The Spy Who Lost Her Head’ doesn’t feature a protagonist with superhuman skills of deduction, nor a plot that fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. Here, quirks and imperfections are pushed into the spotlight
Free and Flawed
Greta Gerwig revitalises the literary classic, Little Women, highlighting the literary journey of its temperamental and wonderfully flawed female protagonist, Jo March
Irrfan Khan In Critical Condition
It has been a month since the acclaimed Bollywood actor made a startling revelation about battling a rare disease called neuroendocrine cancer. Recently, he penned his emotional journey of his suffering in a painful letter to Bombay Times.
WINNING ACT
Anshuman Jha was adjudged best actor, for his role in the recently released Lakadbaggha, at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York.
'WANT TO MAKE INDUSTRY CONDUCIVE TO WOMEN'
Arjun, who plays a villain in Kangana-starrer Dhaakad, says he backs female-led movies keeping his daughters in mind
BABA's BABIL
In his first interview, Irrfan Khan's son Babil reflects on his legacy, lessons from his father, and why he'll never stop grieving.
Women, it's time you got your act together on dating apps
Single, lonely men and women across all age groups are craving for connection. Unfortunately, men are doing all the work on dating apps and women are just not interested in playing the game
It's Konkana, Like ‘King Kong-Konkana
Actor Konkona Sen Sharma celebrates Bazaar India’s 13th anniversary with a conversation on empowerment, emancipation, and self-acceptance.
Back to life, or something like it
The only way director Anup Singh could come to terms with the passing of actor Irrfan Khan was by writing a book about the man who had been his muse
NIGHT OF THE WINNERS
DEVESH SHARMA BRINGS A BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED MYGLAMM FILMFARE OTT AWARDS 2021
The lion and the lamb
His reign began with one crisis, and ended with another—not personal or political crises, but national crises that changed not only the discourse of Indian politics, but the polity itself.
REMEMBERING IRRFAN KHAN WITH HIS FAMOUS DIALOGUES
It's been almost two years since iconic star Irrfan Khan passed away after a battle with cancer. But he is still loved and remembered by his family and friends. January 7 marks the late actor's 55th birth anniversary.