Slumdog Millionaire and Bollywood icon Irrfan Khan dead aged 53

Irrfan Khan, a veteran character actor in Bollywood movies and a one of India’s best-known exports to Hollywood, has died. He was 53.

Khan played the police inspector in Slumdog Millionaire and the park executive Masrani in Jurassic World.

He also appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man and the adventure fantasy Life of Pi.

Khan died Wednesday after being admitted to Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital with a colon infection.

“Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him,” a statement released by the actor’s team said.
 

Khan made his screen debut in the Academy Award-nominated 1988 drama Salaam Bombay!, a tale of Mumbai’s street children. He later worked with directors Mira Nair, Wes Anderson and Ang Lee.

Khan in 2018 was diagnosed with a rare neuroendocrine cancer and underwent months of treatment in the United Kingdom.

“I trust, I have surrendered,” he wrote in a heartfelt note after he broke the news of his battle with cancer.

Khan won a number of film awards in India, including a 2012 Indian National Film Award for best actor for his performance in Paan Singh Tomar, a compelling tale of a seven-time national champion athlete who quit India’s armed forces to rule the Chambal ravines in Central India.
 

Khan received an Independent Spirit Award for supporting actor in 2006 for the Indian-American drama The Namesake and a viewers’ choice award at the Cannes festival 2013 for his role in the Indian romantic drama The Lunchbox.

Khan also starred in the Hamlet-inspired Haider, a Bollywood film set in militarised Himalayan Kashmir.

Tributes are flowing from the entertainment industry, including from fellow actor Amitabh Bachchan, who said Khan was an “incredible talent” and “a prolific contributor to the World of Cinema.” Khan “left us too soon,” Bachchan wrote on Twitter.

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