Amid all the negativity and fear surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the world woke up to yet another sad development today! Bollywood star Irrfan Khan, who had won hearts across the world with his acting mettle, passed away today. He was 53. He is survived by his wife SutapaSikdar, and sons Babil and Ayan.

The actor was admitted to ICU at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Hospital on Tuesday due to colon infection.

The actor, recently came to India after getting treatment for neuroendocrine tumour, in the US for almost 2 years. After he came back home, he resumed work and was last seen in the film Angrezi Medium, that also starred Kareena Kapoor Khan and Radhika Madan. The film was released in March, but had to go off cinemas due to Coronavirus spread.

The actor lost his mother, Saeeda Begum, on Saturday. Irrfan was not able to attend her mother’s funeral due to the coronavirus lockdown. Irrfan’s mother was 95.

A National Award winner and Padma Shri holder, Irrfan is loved for hos work in films like Paan Singh Tomar, Piku, Haider, Rog, Lunchbox, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘Inferno’, ‘Jurrasic World’, and ‘Life of Pi’.

While the void Irrfan has left can never be fulfilled, here’s recalling some lesser known facts about him, that will make you fall in love again.

  1. Irrfan never wanted to become an actor. He wanted to make a career in the cricketing world. But since his parents did not like the field, he took the acting opportunity that came his way accidently.
  2. He was a final year student at NSD (1988) when director Mira Nair chose him for a role in the film Salaam Bombay.
  3. Before making a name for himself, Irrfan’s first job was of AC repair man. The first house that he visited to repair an AC was that of late superstar Rajesh Khanna.
  4. One of Irrfan’s biggest dreams was to give a ‘suitcase full of money’ to his late mother.
  5. Irrfan is the only Bollywood actor to be working in two Academy award winning movies, The Life of Pi and Slumdog Millionaire.
  6. Not many know but Irrfan hails from a royal family. His father was late Jagirdar Khan from village Khajuria and his mother late Begum Khan belonged to the Tonk Hakim family.
  7. Irrfan added an extra ‘r’ to his name as he liked the sound of it, not because of numerology.