RIP Irrfan Khan: Did you know he lied to his parents and NSD to become an actor?

Irrfan Khan, who died on Wednesday at the age of 53, had hoodwinked his parents and the National School of Drama to fulfil his acting dreams.

The nation woke up to the shocking news that Irrfan Khan is no more. He died at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday, after battling a long illness.

Irrfan Khan lied to his family to go to the National School of Drama.

Irrfan successfully straddled a career in Bollywood and Hollywood, with films such as Haider, The Lunchbox, Paan Singh Tomar, Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi and The Amazing Spider-Man. However, his journey to the big screen was not easy.

During an earlier appearance on Aap Ki Adalat, Irrfan had said that his family did not approve of a career in showbiz. “Unke liye, cinema jo hai, usko woh neechi nazar se dekhte the. Unko lagta tha ki naachne-gaane walon ka kaam hai (My family always looked down upon cinema. They thought it is a profession for those who sing and dance),” he had said.

Irrfan, who studied acting at the prestigious National School of Drama (NSD), lied to his parents to get them on board with his decision to study there. “Ek toh meri maa ko jhooth bola. Maine kaha ki main actor banne nahi jaa raha hoon. Main acting seekhne jaa raha hoon, seekh ke main Jaipur University mein aaunga aur teacher ban jaunga (First, I lied to my mother. I told her that I am not going there to become an actor. I told her I am going there to study acting, so I can come back and teach acting at Jaipur University),” he said.

Not only his family, Irrfan also said he lied to the NSD staff. “Aur phir NSD walon ko maine jhooth bola ki maine 10 naatak kiye hai aur cinema se mera koi lena dena nahi hai. Main naatak seekhunga aur phir naatak hi karunga bas. Yeh mere jhooth the. Lekin mere liye zaroori tha (To the NSD staff, I lied that I have done 10 plays and I have no interest in films. I want to learn theatre and I will only do theatre. These were my lies but I had to do it),” he said.

Meanwhile, the NSD condoled Irrfan’s demise and said in a statement, “Not only the National School of Drama has lost one of its meritorious members, Irrfan’s demise is a big loss to the Indian art and cinema fraternity.”

Irrfan is survived by his wife Sutapa Sikdar and sons Babil and Ayan.

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