Irrfan Khan had teacher spirit to him, was insightful and fun, recalls his Life Of Pi co-star Suraj Sharma

New Delhi: On April 29, 2020, Indian cinema and the global stage lost a talented find - Irrfan Khan. The actor breathed his last at Mumbai's Kokilaben hospital where he was admitted a day before due to a colon infection. He battled a rare form of cancer - Neuroendocrine Tumour - for two long years and got it treated in the United Kingdom. 

The actor par excellence not only is hailed as a brilliant actor on the Indian soil but displayed his acting chops in Hollywood as well. Irrfan worked in Ang Lee's 'Life Of Pi' co-starring Suraj Sharma, who in an interview with DNA remembered the legend and shared his interesting experience. 

Suraj, who played the young Pi in his debut film said, "He was amazing, amazing, humble, funny, fun, intelligent, insightful, caring and had teacher spirit to him. I really was fond of him. Every conversation I had with him, he never took himself seriously, never. He was great. The things I learned from him were mostly like, humanity, 'not taking yourself seriously, taking your work very seriously, knowing what you're doing, but not putting pressure on others ever and having fun. People dream to do this stuff, so you're lucky to get to do it', that's what I learned from him."

Talking about Irrfan and his parents, Suraj Sharma went on to share, "One time, he was telling me the story about his family and he was like, 'they saw me working on these films and they said yeh sab chodo just come back and yeh sab sabzi ka kaam hai, woh karo instead, come back home type of vibe' which shows that even his family was so humble, kind, simple and supportive, it has an effect."

"Everybody who comes across these types of people has a positive effect on them. They realize that you don't have to show off, you don't have to create an ego for other people to respect you. People respect genuineness and authenticity. That honesty and genuineness are what create you, your talent is what makes you shine in this regard. It was obvious that he was, a great talent. So those are the things I learned from him," Suraj concluded.