- Born
- Died
- Birth nameSahabzade Irrfan Ali Khan
- Height5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- Born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan, in Jaipur, Rajasthan (NW India) January 7, 1967 to a Pashto-speaking Muslim family. Khan's mother, Begum Khan, was from the Tonk Hakim family and his father, Jagirdar Khan, from the Khajuriya village near the Tonk district, ran a tire business.
The Khan family name comes from Turkish and Mongol languages and mean "king" or great leader. Descendants of Genghis Khan (13th century) in central Asia adopted Islam and became the Moghuls, who conquered India for several centuries until British rule.
Irfan was a skilled cricket player. In his early 20's he was selected for the CK Nayudu Tournament (a stepping stone to First Class cricket). He did not turn up for the tournament owing to lack of funds and as a result he focused on acting.
In 1984 he earned a scholarship to the National School of Acting in New Delhi.
He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor for his contribution to the field of arts.
His portrayal of Paan Singh Tomar in the acclaimed biographical sports drama Paan Singh Tomar (2011) won him the National Film Award for Best Actor and a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. His performance in the BAFTA Award nominated romance The Lunchbox (2013) earned him universal acclaim by the critics and audiences.
Globally, Khan was in The Warrior (2001), The Namesake (2006), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), the Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008), New York, I Love You (2009), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Life of Pi (2012), Jurassic World (2015) and Inferno (2016). As of 2017, his films have grossed $3.643 billion at the worldwide box office. In 2018, Khan was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor.
Khan got married to his wife Sutapa Sikdar, in 1995. She is a Hindu of the Brahmin caste. She is a movie producer, dialogue writer and screenwriter. Among her famous movies are Khamoshi: The Musical (Dialogue Writer, 1996), Supari (Dialogue Writer, 2003), Kahaani (Dialogue Writer, 2003), Madaari (Producer, 2016), Qarib Qarib Singlle (Producer, 2017)
They have two kids: Ayaan Khan, Babil Khan
Unlike most Indian film stars, Irrfan has been outspoken on religion. On Arnab Goswami's talk show, he took on Muslim fundamentalists, including India's Grand Imam. Irrfan Khan argued against "transactional religious interaction" and for "personal religious discovery"..."to discover yourself, to find God". Though he admits he is "not an authority" on the Koran and Islamic Holy scriptures he has bravely stood by his comments despite heavy criticism and even threats of violence. He's aware of the dangers that his frank comments pose to him and his family. His wife commented, "We are very proud of him."- IMDb mini biography by: Apollo Karuna
- SpouseSutapa Sikdar(February 23, 1995 - April 29, 2020) (his death, 2 children)
- ChildrenChildBabil KhanAyaan Khan
- Was offered Matt Damon's part in 'Interstellar' and Chiwetel Ejiofer's part in 'The Martian', he ended up turning down both roles due to scheduling conflicts.
- When he arrived in Bombay, he worked as a air conditioner repair man. One of the first houses he visited to repair a air conditioner was the house of superstar Rajesh Khanna.
- Four days before his own decease in april 29th 2020, Khan's 95-year-old mother died in Jaipur. Khan could not attend her funeral because of India's nationwide lock-down aimed at tackling the COVID-19 virus pandemic.
- The first Bollywood actor to star in two films that won the Academy Award for Best Director (Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Life of Pi (2012)). Both films also won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Best Original Score.
- Irrfan also said no to Ridley Scott's Body of Lies (2008). And his biggest regret was missing out on Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2014), because his smaller India-based project The Lunchbox was being shot at the same time.
- I often visualized giving my mother this big black suitcase crammed with notes like those gangsters do in our masala flicks.
- We're yet to make inroads into the West and the way Chinese cinema is made. I mean, long before Ang Lee's 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon', Bruce Lee had made an impact on the Western audience with his 'Enter The Dragon'. Indian cinema has yet to make that kind of impact. But we're getting there.
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