It was the end of higher secondary. The days were long and life was empty. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, she sat in her bedroom watching the movie ‘Haasil’. She finished watching it. She couldn’t get him out of her head. Somebody told her about ‘Maqbool’. She couldn’t get him or the movie out of her head after watching it. She went online and saw that there was ‘Charas’ another Tigmanshu Dhulia production. After a lot of searching, she found it in one of the video libraries. She watched it and then it happened...
His name was Irrfan. In the days that followed she was going to watch every movie of his that was ever made, and she did. Warrior, Chehraa, Rog and even the star bestseller episodes like ‘Ek sham ki Mulaqaat’. Then came ‘Saade saath phere’, ‘Chocolate’ and the daily ‘Mano ya na mano’. She followed his moves obsessively. Everytime he came on the TV in a promo, her heart skipped a beat. Was this love? What was this crazy obsession about a man who everyone thought was ugly? What drew her to him? Was it his screen presence or those intense eyes? Slowly her internet hours were consumed in browsing for his pictures, interviews, movie clips, anything that featured him. She chanced upon his phone number on his official website. And she thought to herself “this is it! A msg never hurt anyone”’
“Dear Mr. Irrfan,
My name is Apoorva. I have been following you.. (sounds like stalking)
Love your movies. They rock! (Dumb, childish.)
I discovered your movies recently and I must say you are brilliant, to say the least. I wish you all the best and hope that the world opens its eyes to your talent”.
- Apoorva
(SEND)
Within two minutes my phone pinged. “ONE NEW MESSAGE”. I jumped from my seat. It said “thank you very much, but how did u get my num”?
I screamed in joy and said I found it on his website and asked if I could call him. That night I called and we spoke for exactly 4 and a half minutes. I told him how I felt about his movies and how much it had changed my perception about actors. He was very gracious and hung up after saying I could msg or call him anytime I liked. I was elated.
As a fan, I find words less to describe how much I adore this man as an actor. Needless to say the next one year was spent in watching his movies and msging him about them and believe me, I got replies for every one of my msgs. He even msged telling me to watch ‘Saadhe saath phere’ in the theatre. We had the ideal fan- celeb relationship. My parents called him their celebrity son- in- law.
His movies were my religion. Magazines heralded him ‘The thinking woman’s sex symbol’. I agreed more also because it made me a ‘thinking woman’. I loved his eyes, his dry dialogue delivery, his lean body, his mean persona. I loved the way the camera could just rest on his face, caressing the lines on it. I watched his movies as soon as they came. Through him I discovered vishal bharadwaj movies, pankaj kapur, kay kay menon, even tabu and mira nair movies. Vodafone hired him. ‘A mighty heart’ happened and he remained stoic unlike other ‘bollywood’ stars who make a big fuss about going ‘hollywood’.
Well, the world is a small place. My grandfather being an actor, was offered a movie to be directed by an English man which also featured Irrfan. I waited very long to meet this man, but the movie got shelved. My heart broke.
My craze has abated a bit over the years. I watch his movies now too. But I have realized that no matter how many years pass, he will always remain my favourite actor.
