Irrfan Khan, India's true international star

By Arpana May 26, 2007, 14:56 GMT

New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) Talent unlimited... that's perhaps the apt way to describe the critically acclaimed Irrfan Khan. He is the first Indian actor to receive 'the much wanted' attention while walking the red carpet with Hollywood celebrities Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival.

Having regaled Indian audience with his powerful performances in 'Maqbool', 'Yun Hota To Kya Hota' and 'Metro', the actor tried to explore new terrain with directed Michael Winterbottoms' docu-drama 'A Mighty Heart'.

And he succeeded in making an impact on the cream of the crop attending the festival with his acting, which opened to an overwhelming response.

If Jolie, who plays Daniel's wife in the film, got rave reviews for her performance, Irrfan's too has managed to please all and sundry and the scribes gave him full marks for etching out the role of the head of a Pakistani counter-terrorism unit with perfection.

James Rocchi of cinematical.com wrote in his review - a special praise has to go to Irrfan Khan. His character is the head of the new Pakistani anti-terrorism unit, and he's a man torn between the public pronouncements of support for the West's initiatives and the labyrinthine power-struggles of his government and massive public support for radical Islamic action. He is the face of a new kind of power in Pakistan, and his every line, every motion has the coiled power of a punch about to land, even in stillness.

Indeed 'A Mighty Heart' is a triumph for Irrfan.

In the past veterans like Naseeruddin Shah and Om puri tried their luck in Hollywood with 'The League of Extraordinary Gentleman', 'City of Joy' and 'Mistress of Spices' respectively. But none could accomplish what Irrfan has achieved - for the first time an Indian actor is being praised in the same breath as Hollywood stars.

However, Irrfan is not an unfamiliar name in the global film circuit. In 2001 his 'The Warrior', a historical film made by Landon based director Asif Kapadia, stormed in international film festivals and made people take notice of him.

His colleagues feel that Irrfan's grounded personality is the key to his success.

'There is a thing about Irrfan which will take him to very far in life is his talent and his down to earth nature. No amount of success goes to his head. He is a very grounded person,' Anurag Basu, who worked with him in 'Metro', told IANS.

He has one more international project called 'Partition' in his kitty. Directed by Canadian director Vic Sarin, the film stars Jimi Mistry and Neve Campbell.

Recently, Irrfan won accolades for his yet another powerful performance in US-based Indian filmmaker Mira Nair's 'The Namesake', based on Jhumpa Lahiri's best-selling novel.

Next on his wish list is to find a foothold in Bollywood masala films.

'For me it's important to be commercially viable. The distributors should be willing to pay for my space. I still have very limited choice... So what's the point of being known as a good actor when you need to be recognised as commercially saleable? I want a better deal,' said Irrfan.

But at the same time he is looking forward to churn out more milestones like 'Maqbool', 'Warrior', 'Haasil' and 'Namesake'.

He said: 'It's been a long journey. But I've a long way to go. I'm happy with life. My wife is writing for Rituparno Ghosh and Bela Bhansali. I've two kids, aged eight and three. I'm enjoying watching them grow. No experience can match that.'

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service