Riz Ahmed calls Irrfan Khan “a guiding light”

Oscar-nominated British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed has yet again professed his admiration for Bollywood icon Irrfan Khan, stating his legacy is still being understood. In an interview, Ahmed spoke about the actor’s movies including ‘The Warrior’, ‘The Lunchbox’, and ‘Maqbool’, as films that made him a fan of the deceased actor.
Ahmed said he played a crucial role in bridging the gap between the Indian film industry and the West. The actor said, “I think Irrfan’s legacy is still being understood. I don’t really think there had been an actor like him until he came along. By that, I mean someone who seamlessly managed to bridge Bollywood and Hollywood, independent films and commercial films, in two languages and across the two biggest film industries in the world.”
He added, “I don’t think that there’s been any like that before him or since, and that’s something quite profound when you really think about the impact of that culturally. He has made the world a slightly smaller place. He made it a more joined-up place.”
Calling Irrfan one of those gifted artists who could slip into any character and at the same time, offer a glimpse of their own self, Riz said, “Just those eyes… I remember seeing him for the first time in ‘The Warrior’. I remember seeing him in ‘The Lunchbox’. I remember seeing him in ‘Maqbool’. I remember seeing him in ‘Life of Pi’. And each time, the way that he could just be so unapologetically himself and still transform. That’s the realm of actors like Philip Seymour Hoffman who can transform while still revealing themselves.”
Calling Irrfan a “guiding light” for a generation of people, he said, “I think he’s really a guiding light for a whole generation of people around the world. I think we were lucky to have been alive in a time when he was creating.” Irrfan passed away in 2020 after a long battle with cancer.
On the work front, Ahmed will be seen next in filmmaker Michael Pearce’s sci-fi drama ‘Encounter’. The film, which also features Octavia Spencer, Lucian-River Chauhan and Aditya Geddada, will start streaming on Amazon Prime Video from December 10.