Cheers to the man who was light years ahead of his peers in acting, while being a good human being.
His last best dialogue, according to me, was:
“जब आदमी का सपना टूट जाता है न, तो आदमी खतम हो जाता है‘”
(A man dies when his dreams break)
And see what happened to him, But as been said often, artists never die; they live with their work forever, till eternity. He will be here with us forever through his masterpiece work and his amazing ideology of being a human first, above any country or religion.
After watching tens of his movies, when I watched Ye Sali Zindagi, that was my fanboy moment when he said:
“लोग सुनेंगे तो क्या कहेंगे, चूतिया आशिक़ी के चक्कर में मर गया और लौंडिया भी नही मिली”
(When people get to know, they’ll say that the c*** died because of his love and didn’t even get the girl.)
He played every kind of role one can imagine in the cinematic universe. He was a pro at what he did. Unmatchable. He was at his best in his business. With hi film D-Day, he taught us that:
‘”सिर्फ इंसान गलत नही होते, वक़्त भी गलत हो सकता है।”
(Not only men can be wrong, the times can also be wrong.)
When he said:
“रिश्तों में भरोसा और मोबाइल में नेटवर्क न हो
तो लोग गेम खेलने लग जाते हैं’,”
(With no trust in a relationship or no network in a mobile, the man only ends up playing games)
He taught us how trust plays vital role in any relationship.
In the movie Chocolate, he said, “India me artist ki kadar nahi hai, aur India ke bahar indian artists ki (In India, there is no respect for artists, and abroad, there’s no respect for Indian artists).”
He was right, because I think we didn’t give him the respect he deserved. We were too busy cheering up for snowflake Bollywood stars. We don’t give love to deserving movies even today.
His shayari made me go “Waah, waah” in his movie The Killer, when he poetically said:
“दिल-ए-नादान तुझे हुआ क्या है,
आखिर इस दर्द की दवा क्या है’.”
(Oh my helpless heart, what has happened to you,
after all, what medicine is there for this pain.)
He was too good with these words, like he owned them.
In his special appearance in Haider, he made the movie even more special with his poem:
दरिया भी मैं, दरख़्त भी मैं,
झेलम भी मैं, चिनार भी मैं,
दायर भी हूँ, हराम भी हूँ,
शिया भी हूँ, सुन्नी भी हूँ,
मैं हूँ पंडित, मैं था, मैं हूँ, और मैं ही रहूंगा ❤️?’
(I am the sea, I am the tree,
I am the Jhelum river, I am the aspen tree,
I am temple, I am sin,
I am Shia, I am Sunni,
I am a priest, I was, I am, and I will always be.)
His amazing shayari is the reason why I love him more. And he continues to put up more shayari in between each of his movies, no matter what his role is.
This shayari from Qarib Qarib Single will always amaze me:
“लोग हर पेशे में खुद को ग़ुलाम कहते हैं,
हम इश्क़ करने वाले शायरी को काम कहते हैं”
(People from any vocation call themselves slaves,
Us lovers call shayari our work.)
And this another shayari from the same movie explains my situation while writing about him right now:
‘ज़ख्म रिसते रहे उमर भर,
और वक़्त से बेरुखी हो गयी,
नाम लिख के तेरा आज क्यों,
उंगलियां बर्फ सी हो गयी’
(I developed a relationship with my wounds,
While time estranged me,
While writing your name today,
Why then my fingers became numb.)
Or his poetic essence in Karwaan will make you fall in love with him more:
“असली खूबसूरती तारीफ की मोहताज नही होती,
उसके लिए तो बस आंखों की वाह वाह ही काफी है”
(True beauty is not needy of compliments,
For the acknowledgement of the eyes is enough)
Listening to this following Sanskrit shloka from him despite him being a Muslim gave me goosebumps. It definitely tells us about the culture and heritage this nation carries.
He was at his best in Madaari:
“Tashmad ashakat satatam,
karayam karma samacara”
“Asakto-hya-acaran karam,
param annoti purusah”
As a fan, I can keep writing about his legendary work in Bollywood or Hollywood for hours, without even thinking twice. But it is hard to understand why we lose such amazing people so soon!
Maybe he was too good to be here, so God asked him to come over, maybe. I don’t know!
But we will miss you Irrfan saab. There can be no replacement for your working style any time soon, not for many years at least. And we will get over this pain of losing you, give us 350 years or more. Maybe then, you can ask us if we have moved on, of which I know the answer already. You will live in our hearts forever, legend.
Thank you for teaching us how to fight with life, even when all odds are against you. Thank you for everything. May you rest in peace, champion.