Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor: Reflections

Monojit Lahiri writes on the two luminaries of their respective spaces who recently died, leaving family, friends, admirers and fans heartbroken

He is my favourite and best Khan!” gushed powerhouse actress and Life-in-a-Metro co-star Konkona Sen Sharma uninhibitedly about the late Irrfan Khan. To lovers of quality cinema for whom acting is defining truth at 24 frames per second, there is instant agreement. However, the Jaipur-based kid, who once didn’t have the money to buy a ticket to see Jurassic Park, ended up, one day, owning it!

The NSD-trained actor slogged hard and long, playing the waiting game, watching movies on his VCR, studying the work of great actors in great films, local & global. Like many of his generation, he considered Naseeruddin Shah and De Niro as his inspiration and forever remained committed to follow the path less travelled. Theatre and plays helped in making two ends meet in Delhi, but the first film flash came in the one-scene shot in Mira Nair’s Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay (1988). While the film made huge waves, no one really noticed the actor writing a letter for one of the anpadh kids. It took him a decade and a half to hit Haasil (2003) and Maqbool (2004), after which he never really looked back. Life-in-a-Metro, Pan Singh Tomar, Lunchbox, Haider, Talwar, Hindi Medium and [the last] Angrezi Medium were some gems that blew the audience’s mind. Alongside, Irrfan worked in several international projects with distinction. They included The Warrior (2001), The Namesake (2006), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), New York, I love you (2009), The Amazing Spiderman (2012), Jurassic World (2015), Inferno (2017). Reports claim that his overseas films have grossed over $3.643 billion worldwide!

From day one, Irrfan Khan believed that “I am not here to be an object of desire or fascination for the masses. I am here to lend reality to make-believe.” He also dismissed the popular belief of “Actors living their roles. Quality actors appear to live their roles, but in reality achieve this through the three critical devices at their disposal: Imagination. Observation. Experience. The final product will always depend on technique in which intellect is in firm control over intuition.” When this amazing Khan left our midst a few days ago at the age of 53, beyond his greatness as an incomparable actor and human being, the plethora of awards, applause and accolades at home and abroad, the one sentence that echoed in our collective awards was the one he seemed to have defined Zindagi Badi Honi Chahiye, Lambi Nahin..

Rishi Kapoor was a totally different ball game! Born into Bollywood’s First Family with a golden spoon, Chintu baba struck gold in his very first debut film as R.K. Junior – in his dad’s opus, Mera Naam Joker (1970). While the movie turned out to be R.K.’s most expensive joke that made no one laugh, the young Kapoor picked up a National Award! Down and out, his dad gambled with a love story headlined by two young rank newcomer kids at a time when multi-starrers were the rage. As everyone [and their dads & grand dads] must know, Bobby turned out to be a monster hit, a blockbuster that spawned a youth fashion movement, which included the long scarf and the Bobby bike!

While sensational new teenage heroine Dimple Kapadia opted for marital bliss with the phenomenon, Rajesh Khanna, the Rishi Kapoor juggernaut caught fire in dramatic fashion, making him an icon for Youngistan! Across the seventies and eighties, Rishi – despite the biggies like Rajesh, Angry Young Man Amitabh, Dharam, Jeetu and gang – held his own with his matchless Kapoor charm, youthful energy and romantic ada that only he could offer. While he defined the Chocolate Boy persona who drove girls and women nuts, he once confessed to me that he often got bored with constantly wearing jerseys and jackets and romancing young pretty women across various hill stations at home and abroad. While his fans clearly didn’t share his sentiment for a long time, he longed to be challenged as an actor.

In a career that spanned 5 decades and over 120 films, the dreamboat who was swoon-material for his diwana admirers in films like Bobby, Khel Khel Mein, Rafoo Chakkar, Kabhie Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Hum Kisise Kam Nahin, Sangam, Nagina and Chandni, also did a Doosra Aadmi and looked hard for roles that would explore and exploit the Actor – not singdance-romance – Performer in him. A guy [despite his happy-go-lucky, bindaas ways which often got him into trouble] who was very serious about his work, suddenly transited to his second innings – like the Big B – with dramatic style and pizzazz! Be it the menacing Rauf Lala of Agneepath, a very senior citizen who drives everyone crazy with his antics in Kapoor & Sons, the 80-plus young son of centurion dad Big B in the hilarious 102 Not Out, the passionate and patriotic defender of his country, faith & family in Mulk, the charming everyman waiting to graduate from a scooter to a car in Do Dooni Chaar...Rishi Kapoor delivered in style.

Alas, that style, that dazzling Kapoor andaaz, the self-deprecating jokes about weight, the all-pervasive, infectious charm, that mesmerised one and all, will now only be seen in the movies that he graced with such matchless vigour, versatility and vibrancy. Thanks for memories, Chintu and as you and your illustrious, young colleague Irrfan move from sight to memory, do we hear the echoes of a bitter-sweet song of yours...chal kahin door nikal jayen?