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RIP Irrfan Khan: When the extraordinary actor recited poetry and made it his own
Irrfan wasn’t only a revered actor but also a lover of the arts, and his love of poetry is obvious from the many instances when he recited poetry at public events. In fact he once famously said, “I can recite poetry, I cannot write it.”
Bollywood icon and international star Irrfan Khan, whose movie career included Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi, The Namesake, A Mighty Heart, The Darjeeling Limited and The Amazing Spider-Man, has died aged 53 at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. The Angrezi Medium star, who was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour in 2018, was admitted to the hospital earlier this week with a colon infection. “Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him,” his publicist said in a statement.
Irrfan wasn’t only a revered actor but also a lover of the arts, and his love of poetry is obvious from the many instances when he recited poetry at public events. In fact he once famously said, “I can recite poetry, I cannot write it.”
At the Jaipur Lit Fest in 2014, Irrfan recited Om Prakash Valmiki’s heart rending poem ‘Thakur Ka Kuan’. He recited the verses, “Chhuula mitti ka, mitti taalaab ki, taalaab Thakur ka. Bhuuk roti ki, roti baajre ki, baajra khet ka, khet Thakur ka.. Bayl Thakur ka, hal Thakur ka, hal ke muut pe hatheli apni, fasal Thakur ki. Kuan Thakur ka, pani Thakur ka, khet-khaliyaan Thakur me. Fir apna kya? Gaao, sheher? Desh?”
In 2015, at the release of Bollywood songwriter Irshad Kamil’s first book of poems, Ek Maheena Nazmon Ka, along with Deepti Naval, Farah Khan and Sonam Kapoor. The host of the event revealed that while working on a show with Irrfan several years ago he discovered that the Angrezi Medium actor was a talented writer too. In the show based in Ahmedabad, Irrfan played a writer and was asked to pretend to pen something for one of the scenes. After the shoot, when the writing pad was returned to production, Irrfan had indeed penned a beautiful poem. However, it was an Irshad Kamil poem that Irrfan recited. The title of the poem was Idhar aao, some of the verses went, “Main baat tumhari karta hun sab kehte hai shayari karta hun, Tum waha kyu ho jaha ho, idhar aao. Soch ki sarhad ke iss taraf roshni mohtaj nahi. Chand ya suraj me”
Another verse went, “Rok ke alawa kisi cheez par rok nahi jahan. Jeena aur hona maayna badal raha hai. Kaam zarurat nai, zarurat kaam nai. Junoon aur sukoon me koi faraq nai.”
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In a 2018 post on his Instagram, soon after he was diagnosed with cancer, he wrote, “God speaks to each of us as he makes us, then walks with us silently out of the night. These are the words we dimly hear: You, sent out beyond your recall, go to the limits of your longing. Embody me. Flare up like a flame and make big shadows I can move in. Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final. Don’t let yourself lose me. Nearby is the country they call life. You will know it by its seriousness. Give me your hand.” He was quoting Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist Rainer Maria Rilke.
Irrfan’s passing has truly left a void, not only for the acting industry but in our hearts too.
