Irrfan wanted to see theatre world grow in India

MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan who passed away on Wednesday had a strong love for the theatre world. He wanted to see new talents come out on the stage and theatre culture growing in India the same way as it has grown in developed countries. He also wanted folk tales from Rajasthan villages to be told in cities so that there could have been the right connect between rural and urban India.

During one of his scheduled visits to Jaipur way back in 2016, he had said, "Going to theatre is not being looked down upon by anyone in other countries but in india, things need to be changed.

"Am glad to see scenario changing in India too. I feel happy to see people in Gujarat and Rajasthan visiting theatres regularly after taking out time from their busy schedule. The art and culture of different states are preserved via this medium and hence it should be promoted," Irrfan had said.

However, he was equally sad to see that the vast spread folk tales and stories could not come out of Rajasthan villages to cities. According to him, this is the reason a real connect could not be established between rural and urban India which indirectly couldn't help theatres in this state to grow. Also he felt sad to see that there are no more quality writers left in the industry. "There is a strong need of writers to pen interesting plays and I wish FTII starts thinking on this," he had said.

He strongly believed that true acting comes from theatre.

Irrfan loved exploring wildlife. "I love getting lost in the thickness of jungles. Wildlife safari excites me, incites me and takes me back to the roots, You discover lot many newer perspectives of life during jungle walk," he said.

Being a family person, he loved spending quality time with his family in Jaipur. However, at times, he was engaged in different events on his short visit to his hometown, which did upset him sometimes but he still managed everything with an equal clan and was successful in keeping his family as well as his city folks happy.

He loved his family. Sadly, his mother Saeeda Begum passed away on Saturday and the actor paid his last tributes to his mother via video conferencing.

Irrfan's last film was "Angrezi Medium" which ran in theatres for just a day before cinema halls across India were shut due to the lockdown.

The movie is now available on Hotstar.