Sutapa Sikdar plans to pen a book on husband and late actor Irrfan Khan, wants to explore his 'funny' side

Irrfan Khan, Pic/Official Instagram

Irrfan Khan's career has spanned a versatile, powerful and enviable filmography. He was especially well-known for his critically-acclaimed and simultaneously popularly lauded performances in 'Maqbool', 'The Namesake', 'Paan Singh Tomar', 'Haider', 'Piku' and 'The Lunchbox'.

With a remarkable career spanning across three decades, Khan died from a rare form of cancer at the age of 54 in April 2020. His wife, writer Sutapa Sikdar, on Saturday said she wishes to pen a book exploring the funny, laid-back and humorous dimensions of the late actor's personality. Sutapa said whenever she will write the book, she wouldn't "want it to be a sentimental journey".

"I want it to be a funny journey, which I shared with him. People take him as a very intimidating and very serious kind of a person but he was not in real life. The book is not ready at all (but it will be ready) sometime," Sutapa told a media outlet on the sidelines of the launch of a new book on Irrfan by film critic Shubhra Gupta.

Titled "Irrfan Khan: A Life in Movies", the book offers a compelling and comprehensive account of his professional life and achievements - starting from his early days as a student of theatre at the National School of Drama to his long stint in the television industry and his appearance and gradual ascent on the Indian film scene.

The book, published by Pan Macmillan India, engages in dialogue with influential people in Khan's expansive film career, including Sutapa, directors Mira Nair, Vishal Bhardwaj. And Anurag Basu. The book contains in-depth conversations and discussions on the iconic actor's craft, work-ethic and legacy.

For Irrfan, regarded as one of Indian cinema's finest contemporary, the intention behind the telling a story mattered the most, Sutapa said.

"He was not a practising Muslim but one word he strongly caught in Islam was ‘niyat'. So ‘niyat' was so strong in his personality and in life. Like, what is our intention in telling the story? It has to be transparent and honest, and that was foremost for him".

"In a film script, (the story) can't be preachy. It has to be entertaining, people must get entertained but at the same time, the intention should be there," she added.