By Tricitynews
Chandigarh 25th Jan, 2020:- After penning biographies on actors
Shashi Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra renowned author Aseem Chhabra has now
come out with a book based on actor Irrfan Khan. The book titled “Irrfan Khan,
The Man, The Dreamer, The Star” was unveiled at Press Club, Sector 27, here.
The book was released by the author and Mitul Dikshit, Chairman, Adab
Foundation. The book launch event was organised by the city based NGO 'Adab
Foundation' which works for promotion of the arts & literature in the
region.
Drawn from personal interviews and
told through many voices, author Aseem Chhabra, who is a freelance writer based
at New York traced down renowned Indian Actor Irrfan Khan’s personal and
artistic life in its many shades.
Speaking on the occasion Aseem
said that after writing two books on Indian celebrities, I was looking for
another interesting actor’s life to explore. Among other things, what attracted
me in Irrfan is a parallel career, as he has also acted in Hollywood apart from
Bollywood and is admired well by the audience.
Mitul Dikshit said that Adab
Foundation keeps organising pertinent events related to art, photography,
performing arts, literature etc. Under the aegis of Adab Foundation the
Chandigarh Literature Festival is held every year. The book on Irrfan Khan was
unveiled formally by conducting an interactive session on the
same which saw the author in discussion with me and a senior journalist from
this region - Shayda Bano, who is also a part of Adab Foundation.
Aseem added that he has been a big
fan of Irrfan Khan since he saw him in his early films
–Haasil, Maqbool, The Warrior and his other key Indian
films, The Namesake, The Lunchbox, Piku and Talvar.
So, the book celebrates Irrfan Khan through his work while also tracking his
personal life and his passions whether for acting or flying.
Asked about the challenges he faced
while writing this book, Aseem said that the biggest challenge was that he
started working on the book around the time Irrfan had shifted to London to get
medical treatment for neuroendocrine tumour. While he was in touch with him in
2018 and he knew he was working on this book, He was not able to interview him.
But it helped that many directors, actors and friends of Irrfan were willing to
talk to him.
Talking about his first interaction,
Aseem said that in the fall of 2006, he was in Queens, New York, walking to the
subway station near his home. When he took the call, the person at the other
end asked, “Hello!! Is that Aseem Chhabra?’ He responded yes and he then added
‘Sir, main Irrfan Khan bol raha hoon, Mumbai se (Sir, I am Irrfan Khan calling from Mumbai).
He was
standing on a street corner, with cars and buses passing by and Irrfan Khan was
on the phone with me. He had read a profile he had written on Mira Nair in
which he mentioned he had seen The Namesake. Earlier in September,he had
attended the world premiere of the film at the Telluride Film Festival. Irrfan
was in India and he had yet to see the film. And so he wanted to hear from him
what he thought of the film. He told him that he loved it and his performance
had made him cry.
Eventually
he met him face-to-face when he came to New York the next year to
promote A Mighty Heart.
Aseem summed up that 244 pages book
is rich in detail and peppered with anecdotes, which depict the life and work
of the actor that begins in a small household in Rajasthan and culminates in
his face gazing down from billboards in Hollywood.
