Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Bollywood Star Khan Dies at 53


Wed 29 Apr 2020 | 10:54 AM
Yara Sameh

Bollywood star Irrfan Khan has died on Wednesday, after a prolonged battle with cancer, at the age of 53.

The Indian- born actor, who achieved considerable success in both Bollywood and the Western cinema, had been admitted to the intensive care unit of Mumbai’s Kokilaben hospital on Tuesday with a colon infection.

A spokesman stated that Khan died surrounded by family at the time.

In March 2018, he revealed on social media that he had been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor. He traveled to London for treatment.

After extensive treatment, Khan recovered fairly well to shoot his last movie, "Angrezi Medium", which was set for release this March, however, it was cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It was released a few days on an OTT platform, before a nation-wide lockdown was extended till May 3.

Many celebrities paid tribute to the late actor including Amitabh Bachchan, Karan Johar, Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, and many others mourned the actor's death on social media.

https://twitter.com/SrBachchan/status/1255387239330263041?s=20

https://twitter.com/ikamalhaasan/status/1255398241446891520?s=20

https://twitter.com/AnushkaSharma/status/1255389935869349888?s=20

https://twitter.com/priyankachopra/status/1255396687050412032?s=20

https://twitter.com/sonamakapoor/status/1255385830534807556?s=20

https://twitter.com/BoneyKapoor/status/1255391407042330631?s=20

In memoir

The late Bollywood star was born on January 7, 1967, in Rajasthan to a Muslim family. They were from the Khajuriya village near the Tonk district and ran a tire business.

Khan and his best friend Satish Sharma were good at cricket. He was chosen for the CK Nayudu Tournament for emerging players under 23 years, a stepping stone to first-class cricket in India. However, he could not turn up for the tournament due to lack of funds.

He earned a scholarship to study at the National School of Drama (NSD) in New Delhi, while he was studying for his MA degree in 1984.

The late Bollywood star moved to Mumbai, where he acted in numerous television series such as "Chanakya", "Bharat Ek Khoj", "Sara Jahan Hamara", "Banegi Apni Baat", and "Chandrakanta".

On February 23, 1995, Khan married Sutapa Sikdar, writer and fellow NSD graduate, and welcomed two sons, Babil and Ayan.

In a career spanning over 30 years, he starred in more than 50 domestic films, as well as received numerous awards, including Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honor.

Film critics, contemporaries and other experts consider Khan to be one of the finest actors in Indian cinema. Khan was among the first Indian actors to make a consistent mark in Western cinema, following in the footsteps of crossover pioneers such as Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, and Om Puri.

He was also globally recognized for his performance in films like "Slumdog Millionaire", 'Inferno", and "Life of Pi".