Tom Hanks is a bigger man than he is an actor: Irrfan Khan

Irrfan’s Khan is happy he impressed co-star Tom Hanks in Ron Howard’s adaptation of the Dan Brown novel Inferno; rues missing out on Ridley Scott’s The Martian opposite Matt Damon.

Irrfan is perhaps the most recognisable Bollywood export to Hollywood. The 48-year-old has been part of two Oscar-winning films — Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Life of Pi (2012), apart from featuring in Hollywood blockbuster Jurassic World this year. The actor has just wrapped up shooting for Inferno alongside two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks.

Irrfan Khan has nothing but kind words for co-star Tom Hanks. (Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

So impressed was Hanks with The Lunchbox star that after the shoot, he sent Irrfan a hand-written letter wishing he had more scenes with him. “That’s how he (Tom Hanks) is. He is a great human being,” Irrfan says with a big smile on his face. “He is magnanimous. I mean, ki woh jitna bada actor hai usse bada insaan hai. Unko dekh ke hi lagta hai ki aadmi genuine hai. For him, it’s not just about being an actor and trying to secure a position for himself. He is free from all that. He doesn’t carry an image that he feels he needs to protect. I believe that’s how an actor should be — ready to demolish their image for any character,” he adds.

Tom Hanks sent a special note to Irrfan Khan after wrapping Inferno.

Interestingly, Irrfan was also supposed to be a part of Ridley Scott’s recently released film The Martian, and was later replaced by actor Chiwetel Ejiofor in the film. “I am disappointed that things didn’t work out with him. I wanted to work with him before as well in Body of Lies (2008), but things just didn’t fall into place. For The Martian as well, I met him and I loved the concept as well. But Piku’s second half of the shoot was still pending and I couldn’t have left that,” he clarifies.

There were also rumours that Irrfan was in talks to star in the third season of popular crime drama television series, True Detective. When asked for a confirmation, Irrfan says, “I don’t want to talk about it right now because I am not getting anything out of it. I mean if I say a yes or a no, there will be much talk about something that is not offering me anything right now.”

Irrfan Khan in Life of Pi.