In Chandrakanta — Irrfan Khan

Before the global acclaim, before Piku and The Lunchbox , before he taught us how to hold a gun with weary wisdom or how to look at a plate of food with the ache of a lifetime, there was a young man in a purple turban. His name was Irrfan Khan, and he played a small role in a big, gaudy fantasy show called Chandrakanta .

But the secret is this: even then, he wasn’t in the background. irrfan khan in chandrakanta

Look closely at the scenes he’s in. While the lead actors are busy declaiming their lines to the back row of the studio, Irrfan is doing something quieter, stranger, and far more modern. He is thinking . His eyes, even in that garish costume, hold a private calculation. A flicker of doubt. A sliver of boredom. He moves like a man who knows he’s not the hero of this story, but is determined to be the hero of his own corner of it. Before the global acclaim, before Piku and The