Irrfan Khan in a photo of Life of Pi (Courtesy The academy)
Strong points
- The Academy shared a video celebrating cinema and hope
- “A celebration of hope through the lens of the films,” The Academy tweeted
- Video ends with dialogue from ‘Life Of Pi’ Irrfan Khan
New Delhi:
Keep a box of tissues handy as a montage of film scenes put together by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will do you good. The clip, titled “A Celebration of Hope – Through the Lens of the Movies We Love,” ends with a familiar, beloved and missed face – Irrfan Khan in a scene of Life of Pi. Irrfan, who has appeared in several Hollywood movies, died of cancer this year at the age of 53. The Academy’s montage is meant to recall a world crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic that, just like in the movies, hope floats; it opens with a scene from Son with Joaquin Phoenix and passes through several iconic films, including Al Pacino’s The perfume of a woman dialogue: “There is no such thing as the sight of an amputated mind. There is no prosthesis.” Life Of Pi, in which Irrfan Khan plays the adult version of Pool Molitor Patel, who survived a shipwreck and lived in a boat with a tiger. In the scene, Pi Patel is asked if his story has a happy ending. “Well, it’s up to you,” he replies.
Words to live. Editing uses scenes from other movies such Black panther, the black knight, the great dictator and even, ironically, Oscar-snubbed films directed by directors like Greta Gerwig Little woman. But, and that’s a big but, while there are plenty of men talking in the edit aside from Al Pacino and Irrfan Khan, there’s only one dialogue from a female character – The revenge of a blondeElle Woods. The error of omission has not escaped Twitter, with responses such as “In this video, seeking inclusion of women” and “Not many women, ah?”
A celebration of hope through the lens of the films we love. pic.twitter.com/EYZ5FPvHdl
– The Academy (@TheAcademy) July 29, 2020
In this video In Search of Women’s Inclusion 🕵🏽♂️
– Abhishek Bhalerao (@ Mumbaiactor1) July 30, 2020
Not a lot of women, ah? 😑
– QuarantineBlonde (@carohorr) July 29, 2020
Irrfan Khan’s final appearance in the Academy’s Celebrating Cinema video made Twitter quite touching. Actresses Richa Chadha and Nimrat Kaur, who co-starred with Irrfan Khan in The Lunchbox, shared the video, fondly remembering the actor with “a heavy heart.”
A heavy heart smiles with the last image. Such a rich and moving collage. #IrrfanForeverhttps://t.co/OhGMc87tT7
– Nimrat Kaur (@NimratOfficial) July 29, 2020
This tweet sums up everything Irrfan Khan fans had to say after watching the video:
Beautiful. Especially the end with Irrfan Khan 🙏 pic.twitter.com/cn3A465aFn
– Vibe movie (@FILMVIBE_CALI) July 29, 2020
Red hearts flooded Twitter as tributes to Irrfan Khan poured in. “The Academy, thank you for honoring our best,” one fan tweeted:
@ The Academy thank you for honoring our best.
– ghanshyam lalsa (@LalsaSam) July 30, 2020
Irfan khan ❣️
– Vijay (@o_jaanu) July 29, 2020
Irfan Khan ❤
– Amar.N.SHARMA (@ANZAMAR) July 29, 2020
Irfan Khan ❤️
– JON ¥ $ NOW (@BeingKingSnow) July 29, 2020
Thanks for having Irrfan 🙏🏾
– Chihiro ☄️ (@AmazonianPixel) July 29, 2020
Life of Pi was one of Irrfan Khan’s many international credits – he also starred in Namesake, Slumdog Millionaire, The Amazing Spider-Man, Jurassic world and Hell. His last film was a Bollywood film Angrezi medium.
