G5A - Foundation for Contemporary Culture recently celebrated the late actor Irrfan: the actor whose face penned a million stories.
January’s Cinema House was a celebration and exploration of the actor’s malleable artistry –charted through three chapters: films of his early years, films that re-defined the idea of love, and films that featured his breakout roles.
The schedule included Q&A and screening of some of his best works like The Lunchbox by Ritesh Batra, The Warrior by Asif Kapadia, Book Reading | Aur Kuchh Panne Kore Rah Gaye: Irrfan by Ajay Brahmatmaj, Paan Singh Tomar by Tigmanshu Dhulia, Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost by Anup Singh, Qarib Qarib Singlle by Tanuja Chandra, Book Reading | Irrfan: A Life in Movies by Shubra Gupta, The Namesake by Mira Nair, Piku by Shoojit Sircar, Talvar by Meghna Gulzar and Maqbool by Vishal Bhardwaj.
His wife Sutapa Sikdar and elder son Babil Khan attended all the screenings and Q&As. During the screening of The Lunchbox where Irrfan plays Saajan Fernandes who falls in love with a woman he’s never seen, the woman who provides him with his lunchbox, accidentally.
Sutapa and producer Guneet Monga Kapoor shared anecdotes of his work and his grandeur in Indian cinema, especially the simplicity of the film. Guneet spoke about how on many occasions Irrfan saved the day. During their screening at the Toronto Film Festival, when the DCP of the film failed to run due to technical glitches, Irrfan and Ritesh Batra (director) put up a one-hour Stand-Up comic show to entertain an audience of about 4000 people until the technical glitch was fixed.
Actor Nimrat Kaur who starred opposite Irrfan in the film, never shared screen space with him - yet she reminisced how encouraging he was and how mesmerised she was to know that the script was led by Irrfan. His camaraderie with Nawazuddin Siddiqui was unforgettable and Monga Kapoor also spoke about how she met Irrfan for the first time at an airport where she came to fetch his passport - so that she could get him a visa for the Cannes Film Festival.
In a house full show of the film 11 years later, Irrfan in retrospect remained the most revered and iconic hero of our times.
