Unconventional looks, no godfather in Bollywood and no story of exponential rise in the industry! It’s Irrfan Khan, the actor, the person and the global Indian. The guy made a name for himself from the ground up, brick by brick. Ask his fans and they would almost certainly try convincing you that in terms of acting talent, this guy is all other Bollywood Khans put together. Perhaps! He certainly is one of The Best actors in the industry. No doubts about that.
Let's take a look at 12 Interesting and unknown facts about Irrfan Khan that will make you admire the actor even more:
1. He became an actor by chance. He wanted to be a cricketer. Parents disapproved of it. As if by stroke of luck, he got a scholarship to attend NSD (National School of Drama). He was pursuing MA in Jaipur at that time. And he lied about having past theater experience to get in. By all means, it was a ‘good lie.’ We only have a handful of real artists like him in Bollywood.
2. He was a final year student at NSD (1988) when Mira Nair chose him for a role in Salaam Bombay.
3. A TV regular from 1994 to 1998, Irrfan was so bored at one point in time that he thought of quitting. It is an award winning movie based on local tribes of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
4. His real name – Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan. He was born in the village of TONK in Jaipur, in a well off family with royal connections. He has two siblings and his father was a wealthy Zamindar who wanted his son to join the family tyre business. Good that he didn’t.
5. He added an extra ‘R’ to his name – hence the name IRRFAN. And it was not a numerologist who suggested this. Irrfan did it himself.
6. At 6 feet, 1 inch, Irrfan is one of the tallest actors in Bollywood.
7. LunchBox is the only Indian movie to have ever won a TFCA – Toronto Film Critics Association Award. With so much talent he sure has a long way to go.
8. He was offered a big role in Interstellar, but turned it down as he was expected to stay in USA for four months at a stretch.
9. Our home grown Irrfan Khan play the full fledged baddie in the hollywood movie The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012.
10. He has a wish – to gift his mother a suitcase full of money.
11. Julia Roberts stopped outside the Kodak Theater (where the Oscars were being staged) to compliment Irrfan on Slumdog Millionaire.
12. He reads a LOT; almost one new Hollywood script per week to better understand how to play his roles better. Irrfan did about 200 episodes of this TV serial in 1990s.
