When Mark Ruffalo told Irrfan Khan that he loved his work, left him with ‘sparkling lights all over’

Irrfan Khan once saw Mark Ruffalo in a restaurant and wanted to meet him. Little did he know that the admiration was mutual.

After the success of Slumdog Millionaire, Irrfan Khan was propelled into Hollywood prominence. One day, he found himself in the same New York restaurant as actor Mark Ruffalo, whom he admired very much. Little did Irrfan know that the feeling was mutual.

Irrfan Khan met Mark Ruffalo after the success of Slumdog Millionaire.

The incident took place perhaps around 2010 and was one of the many anecdotes mentioned in Aseem Chhabra’s Irrfan Khan: The Man, The Dreamer, The Star, a biographical work on the 53-year-old actor, who died on Wednesday after a two-year battle with cancer.

According to the book, Irrfan and Indian director-screenwriter Aditya Bhattacharya were once having a brunch at a well-known restaurant in New York City with producer Leslie Holleran (The Cider House Rules, 1999 and Chocolat, 2000).

“Suddenly Irrfan elbowed Aditya. He had noticed that actor Mark Ruffalo was sitting on the next table. But he was there with a large group of people, perhaps his family. Irrfan told Aditya that he was a big fan of Mark and somehow wanted an introduction. ‘I asked Leslie if she knew him, and she said she did, but she didn’t feel like walking up to Mark,’ Aditya says. ‘She said it didn’t look right. But I could also see Irrfan thinking, ‘Hello toh bolte hain’ (Let’s at least say hello),” the book states.

“When we were leaving, Irrfan looked disappointed, but then something incredible happened,’ Aditya adds. ‘Mark saw him, put his hand forward and said, ‘Hey man, I love your work’. And Irrfan probably saw sparkling lights all over’,” Aditya is quoted as saying in the book.

Several Hollywood personalities such as Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay and actor Riz Ahmed paid tribute to Irrfan.

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