Where is Irrfan Khan? Has Bollywood forgotten the versatile actor who went on Twitter in March to reveal that he had a rare neuro endocrine tumour and was travelling to the UK for treatment? This, you remember, sparked off ugly rumours in the media that Irrfan had cancer and was in the last stages. Until his PR person trashed all such stories in exasperation but requested the media to support and pray for Irrfan.
It’s close to two months now since Irrfan vanished from the scene. He wasn’t even around to promote his last Bollywood film Blackmail, Abhinay Deo’s black comedy-drama, that released on April 6. And whereas his forthcoming Hollywood film Puzzle that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the US is being readied for release in July and is being widely talked about, there has not been a single statement from Irrfan about this film.
Concerned sources in Bollywood believe that the actor is no longer in the UK but has sought another line of treatment elsewhere. He is reportedly clutching at anything that offers hope. Irrfan, who is known to pick up offbeat scripts, shocked his fans and friends by opening up about his illness with the lines, “Sometimes you wake up with a jolt with life shaking you up. The last fifteen days, my life has been a suspense story. Little had I known that my search for rare stories would make me find a rare disease.”
The actor, who asked people not to speculate about his condition then and promised to share his story, went silent after admitting he had a rare neuro endocrine tumour. Now Irrfan’s fans in Bollywood and Hollywood are getting restless. They want to know how the actor is faring. They believe he is in the US. Where he is does not matter. As long as Irrfan is truly facing the illness like a warrior (his wife Sutapa Sikdar’s words) and fighting every obstacle with tremendous grace and beauty.
There is another fear that things are not going well for the actor. And the truth is like Irrfan’s jigsaw-loving businessman character in Puzzle says in the trailer, “Life is messy. There is nothing we can do to control anything.” We at PeepingMoon.com are praying for him. Everybody should.
