B-6 | Friday, May 1, 2020 www.WeeklyVoice.com voice entertainment Irrfan Khan - The Journey To Stardom ahabzade Irfan Ali Khan ties, he was stuck with forget- ated with it famous. Hollywood, seriously nurtured desire table roles in television, ignored forever looking for exotic faces, Sto be a cricketing hero. by bigtime Bollywood. Those suddenly found a viable deal in In smalltown India, where cricket were the days of mainstream per- Irrfan. and cinema are the twin intoxi- fection in our commercial ilms, It helped Irrfan for two reasons. cations that normally drive no- which told tales of the perfect First, Indian and Asian origin di- tions of heroism, the young boy hero setting things right in an rectors such as Mira Nair and of a tyre seller in Jaipur couldn’t unsettled world. Irrfan, with his Ang Lee, with Indian and Asian realise the dream, so he shifted unconventional face and persona, characters, had grown in stature focus to acting, his other passion would seem too outlandish to be in the West. This translated to that he had been honing doing a hero. His rich voice and screen important roles in ilms such as street theatre. presence matched any screen vil- “New York I Love You” (2009) It is ironic, actually, that his en- lain’s, but at that point of time he and “Life Of Pi” (2012). try into the ield he would never was considered too young to be Secondly, Indian roles in main- make it big seems far easier, the traditional bad man. stream Hollywood projects were compared to his entry into the Back then for a male actor no longer about playing the cab- ield that would eventually givein mainstream Bollywood to bie. The age of inclusion was upon him fame and fortune. For, the make a mark, you had to be ei- Hollywood, and Irrfan bagged young Irfan from Khajuriya vil- ther hero or villain. Irrfan was IRRFAN KHAN pivotal roles in “The Amazing lage near Tonk district of Rajast- a misit for both. There were a (JANUARY 7, 1967 - APRIL 29, 2020) Spider-Man” (2012), “Jurassic han was in no time in contention few interesting roles in the art- World” (2015), and “Inferno” Bhardwaj’s “Maqbool” in 2003 emotions with understated ease. to play in the CK Nayudu Tour- house and crossover circuit like (2016), besides voicing Baloo the gave Bollywood a very differ- Irrfan’s effort won him a National nament -- a stepping stone for Basu Chatterjee’s “Kamla Ki bear in “The Jungle Book”. Jug- ent option in screen villainy. His Award as Best Actor. It also un- under-23 cricket in India. Irrfan Maut” (1989), Govind Nihalani’s gling his acts between the vary- smalltown goon-politician in derlined an important fact that could never make it, some say “Drishti” (1990), Tapan Sinha’s ing shades of “The Lunchbox” “Haasil” and the brooding don in had been happening through the owing to lack of funds. “Ek Doctor Ki Maut” (1990), and (2013), “Haider” (2014), “Piku” “Maqbool”, a Bollywood revisit years -- the actor was a brand on His entry into the world of Akashdeep’s “Ghaath” (2000). (2015), “Talvar” (2015), “Hindi of “Macbeth”, gave screen men- his own accord, not a mere prop ilms, on the other hand, was Butfar these roles, despite being Medium” (2017), and “Karwaan” ace two very different hues. in big productions for major com- less of a fairytale story. He faced well-acted out, didn’t give Irrfan (2018), Irrfan had clearly reached It was the early 2000s, Bolly- mercial stars. the camera for the irst time in the sort of traction he would hope his best phase of career in Bolly- wood was undergoing a churning, What worked for Irrfan in set- Pravin Nischol’s Doordarshan for, to create an impact. wood. with new faces being welcomed. ting up his unique brand power TV series “Shrikant”, based on Interestingly, that happened At the same time, in veteran Most importantly, the advent of was the fact that he managed to Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyaya’s with a ‘foreign ilm’ -- which director Marc Turtletaub’s 2018 multiplexes had thrown open the crack the international scene after novel “Srikanta” and starring Fa- perhaps explains his sustained Hollywood drama “Puzzle”, Ir- genre of realism in entertainment. “The Warrior”. rooq Shaikh and Sujata Mehta demand in the international mar- rfan inally got to play the hero, Actors like Irrfan were suddenly Michael Winterbottom’s 2007 in the lead roles. The show ran ket right till the end. When Brit- opposite Kelly Macdonald. The in demand. Over the next years, release “A Mighty Heart” saw Ir- between 1985 and 1986, and ish ilmmaker Asif Kapadia was ilm won critical acclaim. roles in “Metro”, “Rog”, 7and 1/2 rfan essay a Pakistani cop in the made very little impact. Irrfan’s making his directorial debut in Irrfan’s inest hour -- in Bol- Phere”, “Sunday” “Mumbai Meri grim account of journalist Daniel big screen break happened when 2002 with “The Warrior”, he was lywood as well as Hollywood Pearl’s killing. Mira Nair came looking for fresh looking for a new face -- prefer- Jaan” and “New York” worked at -- was just. Which makes his de- propelling his popularity. and interesting faces in National ably Indian and unlike any -- for The ilm did not work, but mise an irreparable loss for us, on The big bang role in Bollywood when you play an almost paral- School of Drama (NSD), to cast the title role. Irrfan itted the bill. the other side of the screen. would come in 2012, with “Paan lel role in a ilm starring Angelina in her 1988 ilm “Salaam Bom- The ilm was an international suc- The 53-year-old actor is sur- Singh Tomar”. Tigmanshu Dhu- Jolie, you get noticed worldwide. bay!”. She picked Irrfan, a stu- cess, and people who mattered in vived by his wife Sutapa and lia’s remarkable real-life story of The immediate outcome was dent at the drama school back the ilm industry had noticed. their sons, Babil and Ayan. For an athlete who becomes a dacoit his turnaround project -- Danny then, for a small role. The ilm A year later, two ilms released the record, the actor has been ail- under circumstances needed an Boyle’s 2008 global blockbust- went to the Oscars, Irrfan was within a span of months would ing ever since he was diagnosed actor who could be vulnerable er “Slumdog Millionaire”. The just about noticed. turn the tide for the actor. Tig- with neuroendocrine tumour a and resilient at the same time, in - What followed is years of manshu Dhulia’s debut directo- ilm’s success and massive Oswhile back, and has been under projecting a complex torrent of car haul made everybody associ- struggle. For most of the nine- rial feature “Haasil” and Vishal medical attention for the same. Rishi Kapoor, Master Of Reinvention e was always fated to ising his image with his roles -- at -- published in 2017. It is the guts be a star. Born in Bol- least as much as the restrictive that let the moviestar embrace ca- H lywood’s irst fam- commercial Hindi cinema of the reer changes as smoothly as his ily long before the industry was seventies and the eighties would mind and spirit took on the ight overrun by nepotism debates, Ri- let him. He carved a unique comic against cancer head-on. shi Kapoor announced his arrival style for himself (“Rafoo Chak- ••••• with a National Award as Best kar”, “Amar Akbar”Anthony”) Very few might recall Rishi Child Artiste for his role in the that was, quite unlike what Kapoor as someone who called 1970 gem, “Mera Naam Joker”. worked back then, without over- the shots, too. It did happen in Three years later when his the-top tendencies. 1999, when Kapoor made his father, showman Raj Kapoor, By the turn of the decade and only ilm as a director. launched him as a hero in teeny- into the eighties, it was abundant- The ilm was “Aa Ab Laut- Cha bopper romance “Bobby”, he was ly clear that Rishi Kapoor would len” and it starred Aishwarya Rai the hottest young star in town. not fade away -- unlike most oth- with Akshaye Khanna, and also The chocolatebox hero was born. er chocolatebox heroes. featured yesteryears’ superstar, For nearly three decades after As much as he loved romanc- the late Rajesh Khanna, besides that Rishi Kapoor was synony- ing and dancing, he also realized Suman Ranganathan, in pivotal mous with romance, becoming the market for such heroes was roles. Incidentally, that was the Bollywood’s face of mush as shrunken at that point of time. last production of the prestigious no other actor has managed to He quickly latched on to the mul- RISHI KAPOOR family banner, RK Films. be. From the naive romantic of tistarrer bandwagon -- the new (SePTeMbeR 4, 1952 - APRIL 30, 2020) The ilm was a romantic drama “Bobby” to the loverboy prank- in-thing for the Bollywood big that addressed young India’s fe- ster of “Rafoo Chakkar” and screen. pected him to -- he started sign- surprises. First, he reorganized tish for settling abroad, particu- “Khel Khel Mein”, from being Therein lies the secret of Rishi ing up heroine-oriented projects his image. With the advent of larly the United States. cast in the more classic backdrop Kapoor’s survival and success. in the later eighties through the the 2010s, Kapoor moved away The ilm failed to create much of Bollywood romance in “Kabhi Above all else through the de- early nineties, opposite top ac- from all things nice that had ever of an impact at the box ofice, Kabhie” or “Laila Majnu”, to the cades, he has been a master of re- tresses of the era such as Sridevi deined his image. As the sinis- and in 2017, the actor said he was unconventional lover with grey invention. It is the sort of strategy (“Nagina”, “Chandni”), Rekha ter face of evil in “Agneepath” happy in his acting space and had shades in “Zehreela Insaan”, it that underlines abundant versatil- (“Sheshnag”,”Azad Desh Ke and “D-Day”, he was suddenly no plans to go back to direction didn’t take him long to establish ity, not just on screen but off it, Gulam”), Madhuri Dixit (“Yaara- reinventing villainy, in the same anytime soon. himself as the king of masala too. On screen, because match- na”), and Juhi Chawla (Daraar”). way he had redeined the hero all “I am an actor and my time is mush. In all this, he discovered ing up to action heroes such as Qualitatively, Bollywood had those years ago, arriving as the devoted to my irst passion of my the power of song and dance to Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmedra hit an unprecedented low in this teen sensation in “Bobby”. life -- acting. I did not get time prop the endearing glamour as a or Vinod Khanna in scripts pri- era, and the sole criterion of But more interesting was Ka- and also I did not come across a romantic hero in that early phase. marily written for the machomen success seemed to be visibility. poor’s reinvention off screen. He good subject.I have been busy as Rishi Kapoor emerged as a super demanded lots of screen pres- These ilms, as well as the mul- took to social media. When he a character actor since 17 years dancer in the songs of “Hum Kis- ence. Kapoor came up trumps ev- tistarrers that he continued doing, joined Twitter in January of 2010, and I am enjoying working with sise Kum Nahin”, “Yeh Vaada ery time, despite never losing his helped him stay in the limelight. people expected just another wise so many lovely people. I am very Raha”, “Sargam”, “Dhan Daulat” essential characteristic as a lov- Very few of his solo hero projects old Bollywood star, who would happy acting,” he had said at the “Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai” and erboy in ilms such as “Naseeb”, back then made any impact. spew niceties and knowledge. trailer launch of his ilm “Patel Ki “Karz”. “Coolie” or “Katilon Ke Kaatil”. By the 2000s, havi ng made a What they got was a irebrand Punjabi Shaadi”. The romantic-musical star tag Yet the multistarrer phase move into supporting role, Ka- who would take on any and ev- Last year, Rishi, when he was was important for Rishi, because would pass, and by the late eight- poor had taken to playing the erybody. Rishi Kapoor, always undergoing cancer treatment in he was out carving a niche in an ies it would be time for Rishi Ka- daddy roles in ilms like “Yeh Haiknown to have spoken his mind, New York, Rishi tweeted a - be era that primarily belonged to the poor to reinvent again. Jalwa” and “Kuch Khatti Kuch found a natural space to let off hind-the-scene photograph of his Angry Young Man. Sure he did There was a rough phase Meethi”. An era in Bollywood some steam. Sure, it got him directorial ilm, sharing that he get on with the occasional gun- around this time. As the eighties had changed with the millenni- trolled often, but it also did leave really misses his home and wants totting antic or some good old- were drawing to a close, a whole um, medium of infotainment was social media impressed with his to return to India. fashioned ilmi dishoom-punch, new generation of stars and di- changing and, just when people guts. “Filming in New York, 1998 but that wasn’t his image. The rectors moving in. An aging ro- started saying that playing the That streak of guts deines ev- - Aa Ab Laut Chalen - title so audience went in to watch him mantic hero doesn’t ind many heroine’s dad was the irst signerything he has ever lived for. It symbolic today,” he wrote on the romance, and dance. takers in a ickle world as Bol- of an actor’s end, Rishi Kapoor is something that resonates in his post, which was originally shared Yet, Rishi was quietly reorgan- lywood. Rishi did what few ex- sprung his most glorious twin autobiography “Khullam Khulla” by his fan on Twitter.