Tracing Irrfan Khan's early days: A private person, caring flatmate and an actor in making

Much before Irrfan Khan wowed the world with his acting talent, the actor was a shy, passionate and sincere person, who was meant to be all things great, say friends and colleagues from his early days.

Irrfan passed away on Wednesday after losing his battle with a rare form of cancer at the age of 54. The industry dubbed the actor's untimely demise as an emotional void, which will be hard to fill.

Much of Irrfan's journey to become the actor he eventually did, began when he got into the National School of Drama (NSD) in 1984, where "Taare Zameen Par" actor Vipin Sharma first saw him.

"I had already graduated but used to hang out in the hostel. I was friends with Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sanjay Mishra and would often be with them in their rooms.

"Irrfan was my junior and I remember he had done a play in one of the students' productions, and when I saw it I was totally blown away by his performance," Sharma told PTI.

The actor said back then Irrfan and Tigmanshu weren't the best of friends and barely used to chat.

"I remember telling Tigmanshu that Irrfan was a great guy and he should connect with him. We all know how that turned out," he said.

Tigmanshu and Irrfan went on to form a solid cinematic partnership, with consecutive acclaimed work, from "Haasil", "Paan Singh Tomar", for which the actor won a best actor National Award, to "Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns".

Sharma recalled the actor had a small room to himself in one corner in NSD.

"He was a very private person from the beginning. Normally in the hostel, two-three people shared a room. Irrfan had picked up this room, which was single occupancy. It was in the back, right in the corner.

"We would see him sitting by the window, reading a book. He was in his own world. It wasn't that we spent a lot of time in NSD but strangely our bond grew after college. I felt like he was a brother to me."
"There was me, Irrfan, Mira, writer Sooni Taraporevala, Barry John and 130 kids. We lived in an apartment behind Jaslok Hospital. Shyam Benegal would live right above us. Irrfan was an extremely hardworking person and incredibly passionate. Every day after finishing workshops, he'd say 'Raghu bhai, let's go to the streets, explore.'
"I was already signed for Chillum but he was devastated. He cried so much that night. I calmed him down, told him we have just started. Everything that's broken can be fixed. He didn't get the role because of his height. Though Mira had told him he'd get something else, he was inconsolable."
"He had such passion to learn, surrender and adapt, I knew he would go far. It was his sincerity, which took him ahead, so far."