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Bollywood icon Irrfan Khan dies
(CNN) - He was the best supporting actor.
With his bulging eyes and deep intellect, Irrfan Khan, who died this week at age 53, was versatile, coveted, and equally adept at the role of hero, villain, or somewhere in between.
- READ: Bollywood star Irrfan Khan who successfully jumped to Hollywood dies
He was the unusual Indian actor who was successful in both Bollywood and Hollywood. I interviewed him in 2010 and he explained why he liked working in the United States, despite earning much less here.
The United States "allows me to expand my limits as an actor," he told me.
Here are some of those roles:
Piku - 2015
In this poignant comedy about the relationship of a father and daughter, Khan plays a taxi driver with his own family drama. It is the classic role of Khan in which his wisdom ends up conveying much of the film's message.
Available on YouTube, Google Play, iTunes.
The Lunchbox - 2013
This is a perfect movie. Khan plays Saajan Fernandes, a common accountant who has just been widowed. She accidentally starts receiving lunches with notes inside (made by a woman trying to save her own marriage) and then a virtual adventure begins to flourish.
Available on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play.
The Namesake - 2006
This is one of those rare cases where the movie could be better than the book, and that is because of Irrfan Khan. The actor plays Ashoke Ganguli, an Indian immigrant to the United States who must find his way in a new country, with a new wife and big dreams. The scenes between him and Tabu, who plays his wife, are sweet and memorable, with universal lessons on how true love can actually come after marriage.
Available on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play.
In Treatment - 2010
This is the only television series I will include, but the intensity and simplicity of a program about a psychotherapist and his clients demonstrates Khan's strengths. Irrfan Khan plays Sunil, who leaves India after his wife's death to move in with his son and daughter-in-law in Brooklyn. It turns out that this series was the reason I interviewed Khan and he told me then:
"There is something unique about this program. I cannot say that it is cinema, television or theater. Neither the cameraman nor the director take liberties with time and space. "
Available on HBO
Life of Pi - 2012
In director Ang Lee's adaptation to the big screen of the extraordinary survival of a child at sea, Khan plays Piscine's adult character "Pi" Patel. A scene from this movie where Pi talks about life and death went viral: “I suppose that, in the end, life is summed up in the act of letting go of everything, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye". Indeed.
Available on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play
Slumdog Millionaire - 2008
This film is set in a series of poignant flashbacks, and Khan plays the police inspector who continues to bring us back to the present day. The transformation from the strong words and threats to be lenient and compassionate Khan is a feature of this film and introduced him to Western audiences in a big way.
Available in Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play
Life in a Metro - 2007
Khan's life and career spanned the period of a rapidly evolving and modernizing India. This film records the anguish among the country's young and restless professional class, which is in search of love and meaning. Khan plays Monty, a sweet but socially awkward boy (like one we all know). In the like Piku , this film shows the comic timing of Khan.
Available on Netflix
Hindi Medium -2017
My friend and film critic Aseem Chhabra wrote a biography of Khan published earlier this year and highly recommends this film. The film is about admission of children to elite schools, and Khan appears to be wonderful in his role.
Haider - 2014
This is the third installment of director Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespearean trilogy; Khan also starred in the acclaimed Maqbool . In Haider Khan encourages the desire of the protagonist to avenge the death of his father and underlines film brilliantly how politics becomes familiar as personal divisions and in times of militancy.
What surprises me from previous roles is the frequency with which Khan played someone we all know and mastered the art of turning the ordinary moment into an extraordinary lesson. When he announced that he had cancer two years ago, he quoted Margaret Mitchell and said that "life has no obligation to give us what we expect." And he promised: "For those who waited for my words, I hope to return with more stories to tell."
Those roles, and therefore their stories, will endure.
Irrfan Khan