Irrfan Khan, the acclaimed Indian actor who became famous for arthouse flicks in his home country before crossing over to success in Hollywood, has passed away. The actor had memorable roles in movies like Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire and Jurassic World. He was 53 when he died.
Khan had been diagnosed with a tumor in 2018 and underwent extensive treatment in London. He’d recovered enough to film Angrezi Medium, which was set to come out this year until it was swept up in the coronavirus pandemic delay of releases.
Khan got his start on Indian television and rocketed to fame for his role in 2001’s The Warrior, which one a BAFTA. He garnered acclaim for his role as Macbeth in 2004’s Maqbool and won India’s National Award in 2009 for Paan Singh Tomar. He had great crossover success in Hollywood with movies like Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi, The Lunchbox, The Namesake, Jurassic World, The Amazing Spider-Man and Inferno.
“An incredible talent … a gracious colleague, a prolific contributor to the World of Cinema, left us too soon, creating a huge vacuum,” tweeted veteran Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan.
Khan’s mother passed away just a few days before he did. He watched her funeral remotely, due to the pandemic.
