Actor Deepak Dobriyal, who worked with Irrfan Khan in Angrezi Medium earlier this year, recalls the late actor was like an elder brother. "From making me understand the craft of acting to teaching me how to give genuine expressions on screen, he taught me and helped me a lot, like a big brother. His death is a personal loss," Deepak told IANS.
Irrfan died on Wednesday at Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital where he was admitted the day before with colon infection. He even had battled neuroendocrine tumour for several months.
Remembering his late co-star, Deepak recalled how Irrfan happily continued shooting Angrezi Medium while undergoing treatment for cancer.
"Despite being in pain, he duly fulfilled his professional commitments. He was not in pink of his health, so I always tried my best to make him smile during our shooting. I used to joke with him and he never felt bad. He always treated me like his chhota bhai."
"It's hard to digest the news of his demise. We had even planned to work on 'Urdu Medium' or 'Chinese Medium'. Now it's a dream which will never become true," Deepak grieved.
In an interview to Pinkvilla, Deepak said, "He was a philosopher, apart from being a great actor. Once I called him after knowing about his condition and asked him 'Irrfan bhai, yeh jo role mila hai, upar wale ne jo yeh role diya, ab kya karenge, ise kaise dekh rahe hain.' And he said, 'arey haan bhai, ab upar waale ne bol diya hai, ab laga process, hunar nikal, craft, jitna bhi, ab dikha.' I heard that and I became emotional that he said such things with humour and wit. His perseverance and will to fight is next level."
It’s really unfortunate to know that Irrfan Khan is not amongst us now. May his soul rest in peace.
(With inputs from IANS)
