"We laughed about you dying," wrote Irrfan Khan's last director Homi Adajania on Instagram after the actor's death, "In fact, we often abused your 'uninvited guests' but I didn't think I'd feel so f****in broken when I heard what I was expecting to hear for a while now." Irrfan Khan died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday after a long battle with a cancerous tumour. Just weeks ago, the Homi Adajania-directed Angrezi Medium opened in theatres - it was one of the last films to release before India locked itself down against the coronavirus pandemic. Irrfan Khan's battle with disease, however, had begun a year-and-a-half before and was in its final stages.
In his moving tribute, Homi Adajania wrote: "I am eternally grateful that I could call myself your friend. I am eternally grateful for memories stuffed with so much joy, so much laughter in such little time. You once told me how you had an inexplicable love for your craft but didn't want the stardom anymore. Well, you never needed to be a star, my friend, because you shone brighter than anything in the universe."
Read his post here:
Angrezi Medium, a sequel to Irrfan Khan's 2017 film Hindi Medium, features Kareena Kapoor in a small role in the film. She shared a picture featuring herself, the late actor, and co-stars Dimple Kapadia and Deepak Dobriyal and wrote how it was an "absolute honour" for her to work with him. She captioned her post: "It was an absolute honour, sir."
Irrfan Khan, among India's most admired actors, starred in several acclaimed films at home and internationally in a 30-year career. These include The Namesake, The Lunchbox, Maqbool, Haider, Life Of Pi, Talvar, Piku and others.
