THE SUBTLE BRILLIANCE OF IRRFAN KHAN

Textbook definitions of acting cannot describe his talent. When we see him on screen, we don’t realise where acting begins and living-the-character ends

- Maithili Rao

What a let-down that our wait for Irrfan Khan’s return was limited to one day of screen time. Angrezi Medium’s trailer left us chorusing ye dil maange more, especially when Khan appealed to his audience to wait for him. And we waited for him, in anticipation of his unique brand of seamless spontaneity. Like a new gourmet dish from a masterchef, a new bouquet from a designer perfumier, a new painting from a well-known atelier. Do all these expectations make Khan sound like a well-rehearsed actor performing to a preconceived notion of perfection?

Khan’s impact is far from such textbook definitions of acting. When we see him on screen, we don’t realise where acting begins and living-the-character ends. There is such beguiling ease in his presence, nothing contrived or worked hard at. If he follows method acting, you don’t see the nuts, bolts and rivets of the craft. He is just Champak, the doting small-time mithai wala who will do anything for his daughter; Raj Batra, relocating from an assured status in Chandni Chowk to snooty south Delhi, again for his little daughter, in Hindi Medium. In the process, he redefines fatherhood that radiates undemanding, unconditional love for a daughter. Whether by design or accident, both films make the father-daughter bond central, defying patriarchy that puts a premium on the son. Khan brings such affection and humour that is often selfdeprecating, and sheer likeability (even when he is conning the slum dwellers that he is one of them) that you understand and love him because of his flaws. not in spite of them.