Irrfan Khan, the People’s Actor

Shah Rukh Khan called him “the greatest actor of our times” and Tom Hanks admitted he was intimidated to be in the same room as him. Director Danny Boyle compared his acting in Slumdog Millionaire (2008) to the moves of a perfect athlete and director Wes Anderson wrote him into Darjeeling Limited (2007) just to say hello.

While many Indian thespians accept the few coveted roles given to non-white actors, Khan prioritized his Indian film projects. He turned down Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014) for Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox (2013) and a Steven Spielberg project because he thought the role lacked depth. Amid Bollywood’s commercialism and Hollywood’s token characters, Khan managed to carve out a niche, enriching both industries and becoming a global star.

“I never really felt like leaving India. My people are here and so are my stories,“ he once said.