Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah recalled his conversating with the late actor Irrfan Khan. Before the star’s death in April 200, Naseeruddin Shah said in a new interview, that Irrfan knew that it is going to happen for about two years.
Irrfan Khan and Naseeruddin Shah have worked in several films together including Magbool(2003),7 Khoon Maaf (2011) among many others. Irrfan Khan passed away at the age of 53 last year, battling a long fight with cancer.
Naseeruddin Shah spoke on Irrfan Khan’s death in an interview with Indian Express; he says, “That was unique because Irrfan knew for about two years that it was going to happen. I spoke to him several times over the phone even when he was in the hospital in London. It was amazing and it was a real lesson on how we deal with it. I remember, he would say:’I am observing death approaching me, and how many people get that opportunity? To be able to see grim reaper coming towards you and you are almost welcoming him’.Of course, it was a terrible loss. But it was not in our hands. It was just bodily machinery shutting down. You don’t have any control over it.”
The veteran actor added, “I don’t think it is healthy to obsess about death. I definitely don’t do that. I have experienced several deaths of my close ones-my family, my parents. Along with some of my dear fronds as well, particularly the unexpected ones-the way Om Puri dimes, the way Farooq Shaikh died-were all terrible shocks. But it does no good to obsess over it. I think that death is the most unimportant part of life and ironically also the most unavoidable one as well. I don’t dwell on it at all. I will fo when I have to go. As long as I am around I want to be as alert and as alive as possible. I would not like my friends to be lamenting about me when I am gone but celebrating and laughing and talking about the things I did. I would rather they remember me for the life I have lived than talk about how I died.”
