This Friday, we’re flocking to the theatres to catch Irrfan make a come back to the big screen after a 2-year-long hiatus

This Friday, we’re flocking to the theatres to catch Irrfan make a come back to the big screen after a 2-year-long hiatus, with Angrezi Medium. Speaking about working with Irrfan, his co-star in the film, Kareena Kapoor Khan, said, “I have worked with all the Khans – Shah Rukh, Salman, Aamir and Saif. But for me, it is an honour and privilege to work with Irrfan Khan. He is the pioneer, one of the finest actors among all the Khans if I may say, and he is the biggest Khan for me.”

But the biggest Khan of Hindi cinema had quite a rocky start too. He missed out plenty of coveted opportunities – the most notable of all is Mira Nair’s, Salaam Bombay. In this week’s Tuesday Trivia, we tell you how a role in Nair’s 1988-film, that could have made Irrfan, was reduced to a blink-and-you-miss cameo. And how he rose like a falcon later, The Namesake, also directed by Nair.

In 1986, when Mira Nair visited NSD (National School of Drama), her eyes were looking for trained actors who could work with street kids in her upcoming film Salaam Bombay, a film based on the lives of street kids in Mumbai. At the basement workshop of the college, she spotted Irrfan.

“I noticed his focus, his intensity, his very remarkable look – his hooded eyes. I clocked him,” she said to Anees Chhabra for his book Irrfan Khan, The Man, The dreamer, The Star.

For the 20-year-old Irrfan, it was a dream come true. He jumped on the offer and flew to Mumbai to attend the film’s workshop. He and actor Raghubhir Yadav stayed at a flat that Mira had rented. They, along with a few street kids, took part in workshops that were organised at the flat.