There are many actors, who before entering the glamour world, used to do odd jobs. While some worked as bus conductors, and waiters, others worked as chefs, teaching students to make ends meet. However, they later became superstars like Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, and others. One such actor, who used to work as an AC mechanic, later became a superstar.
The actor we are talking about left a mark with his performances not only in Bollywood but also in Bollywood. He once used to earn only Rs 25 per student for teaching them, however, later gave several Rs 1000-crore blockbusters. He is none other than Irrfan Khan.
Before entertaining the audience with his powerful performances, Irrfan Khan used to work as an AC mechanic. Irrfan Khan was born on 7 January 1967 in Tonk, Rajasthan into a Muslim family of Pathan ancestry. He developed an interest in acting under the influence of his maternal uncle who himself was a theatre artist in Jodhpur. After completing his MA in Jaipur, he went on to take admission to NSD to study acting.
He revealed in an interview that while he was in Jaipur, he used to give tuition to the students and charged Rs 25 per student. When he came to Mumbai, he took up a job as an air conditioner mechanic and visited the home of his acting inspiration, Rajesh Khanna, and was left star-stuck.
The actor debuted with Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! where he was offered a minor role. However, his scenes were reduced in the final cut. He then turned to television and acted in several shows like Kahkashan, Chanakya, Bharat Ek Khoj, Sara Jahan Hamara, Banegi Apni Baat, Chandrakanta, Shrikant, AnooGoonj on Doordarshan. His first Bollywood lead role came in 2005 with Rog and after that he never looked back.
He appeared in the box office hits The Namesake and Life in a... Metro and then went on to make his name in Hollywood as well. Over the span of his career, the actor starred in several Hollywood blockbusters like Slumdog Millionaire which earned over Rs 3000 crore at the box office, Jurassic World, The Amazing Spiderman, and Life of Pi, all of them earned over Rs 3000 crore at the box office. Not only in Hollywood, he also starred in several hits and blockbusters in Bollywood like Hindi Medium, The Lunchbox, Piku, Angrezi Medium, and more. He also won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his biographical film Paan Singh Tomar.
Though the actor left the world in 2020, at 53 years old after suffering from a colon infection caused by the disease, neuroendocrine cancer, he is still remembered as one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. His son, Babil Khan, has also taken the path of his father and has started making his mark in Bollywood.
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