It’s been more than three years now since the world lost Irrfan Khan, yet his presence persists in every discussion of wonderful cinema. He wasn’t merely another performer; he was a phenomenon who could totally alter the ambiance of a scene with one unforeseen glance, pause, or delivery of a line. Earlier this month, director Vivek Agnihotri, who worked with the late actor in his directorial debut Chocolate (2005), spoke at length about what it was like to share screen space with Irrfan and how much he still misses him.
Recalling the way Irrfan’s unorthodox method of acting kept even seasoned co-actors like Anil Kapoor on their toes in a frank talk with Mashable India, Agnihotri shared his stories not only about Irrfan’s genius but also about the human side of the person behind the lens.
A Loss That Still Feels Personal
Agnihotri began by speaking about how Irrfan’s passing in April 2020, at the age of just 53, felt like an irreplaceable loss. “I wrote a very philosophical article when he passed away. I really miss him. He was a great person,” he said, his words carrying the weight of someone who had truly experienced the depth of Irrfan’s artistry.
For Agnihotri, Irrfan wasn’t simply an actor delivering lines on cue. He was someone who breathed life into a scene in a way nobody could predict. “He’d rehearse something else and then give a completely different take when the camera rolled. You’d never know what he was going to do. That spontaneity made him astounding. He understood the soul of the scene and then recreated it in his own way.”
This unpredictability was not chaos; it was magic. It made his co-stars alert, alive, and sometimes even a little unsettled, because they couldn’t lean on rehearsed patterns.
The Clash of Styles: Irrfan Khan vs. Anil Kapoor
One of the most intriguing dynamics on Chocolate’s sets was the extreme contrast between Irrfan Khan and Anil Kapoor. Anil Kapoor, who with his limitless energy and sharp commitment to the script, was the exact opposite of Irrfan’s quietly understated, borderline untrustworthy calm.
Agnihotri explained, “Anil would follow the script exactly as written. He’s that kind of performer—full of energy, rehearsed, and ready. On the other hand, Irrfan would sit quietly, giving off the impression that he had no energy. Anil often wondered how they would even manage a scene together because Irrfan didn’t rehearse.”
But when the cameras started rolling, magic unfolded. “If you watch their scenes together in Chocolate, you’ll notice they are brilliant. It was like a competition of who could surprise more in a scene. Both of them were such experienced actors, but they had such different approaches that it pushed each one to deliver better.”
That tension between Irrfan’s quiet spontaneity and Anil’s structured energy created a screen chemistry that audiences could feel, even if they couldn’t quite put it into words.
Irrfan Off the Set: A Completely Different Person
While Irrfan’s on-screen persona was all about intensity, nuance, and surprise, Agnihotri also remembered his lighter side off the set. After long hours of shooting, the cast and crew often gathered in Agnihotri’s room for drinks and conversations. But Irrfan was rarely the life of those parties.
“He would often doze off anywhere—on a chair, on a sofa, even mid-conversation,” Agnihotri laughed. “Sometimes, we literally had to carry him back to his room.”
It’s these small, humanizing memories that remind us that beyond being one of India’s greatest actors, Irrfan was also just a man who liked to switch off when the day’s work was done. That balance between being an extraordinary performer and an ordinary, laid-back person was perhaps what made him so endearing.
Chocolate: A Film Ahead of Its Time
Released in 2005, Chocolate was Agnihotri’s directorial debut, inspired by the Hollywood classic The Usual Suspects (1995). The crime thriller featured a galaxy of stars such as Anil Kapoor, Sunil Shetty, Emraan Hashmi, Arshad Warsi, Tanushree Dutta, and Sushma Reddy.
Though the movie itself had mixed reactions, it is remembered for the interesting chemistry between its cast of actors and for that glimpse of Irrfan Khan trying out yet another shade of acting. His versatility to shape himself to fit any tale, mainstream or otherwise, was already on display then.
Looking Ahead: Vivek Agnihotri’s Next Project
Close to two decades following Chocolate, Vivek Agnihotri is now a director who specializes in approaching socio-political issues. His next movie, The Bengal Files, is set to be released on September 5, 2025. It has Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, and Darshan Kumar playing the leads and is based on the 1946 Great Calcutta Killings and the Noakhali riots.
It’s a reminder that some artists don’t just leave behind films; they leave behind stories, experiences, and an energy that lives on long after they’re gone.