Malayalam star Fahadh Faasil says though he never met Irrfan Khan in his life, the actor was one of the reasons why he joined cinema.
The National Award-winning actor released a statement in the wake of Irrfan's death from a rare form of cancer on Wednesday.
Faasil recalled that when he was a student in America, he came across Irrfan's 2006 film "Yun Hota To Kya Hota".
"The first thing I noticed was that the film was directed by Naseerudin Shah...That night, few minutes into the film, when the character Salim Rajabali came on screen, I turned to Nikunj (his friend) and asked 'who is this guy?'.
"I mean, there are actors who are intense, who are stylish and who are charming. In all honesty, this was the first time I ever saw an actor who was ORIGINAL on screen. And his name was IRRFAN KHAN," Faasil said in the statement.
The actor said he became an even bigger fan of Irrfan after watching his performance in Mira Nair's "The Namesake".
"Irfan Khan's growth was like a popular song. Every one was singing it and feeling it. I kept watching his films. I used to get carried away so much that most of the time I lost narratives of the films.
"Or it was more like I didn't care about the narrative as long as he was performing. He made acting look so easy and I was fooled," Faasil added.
He said Irrfan was one of the reasons why he decided to drop out of engineering and become an actor.
"I have been acting or trying to for the last 10 years.. I have never met Inrfan Khan. For that matter I haven't even seen him. But I was fortunate enough to have collaborated with actors and filmmakers who have worked with him. The first thing I spoke to Mr. Vishal Bharadwaj when I met him was about 'Maqbool'," Faasil said.
The actor, however, has a deep regret of never being able to meet the prolific actor, even when Irrfan shot for his 2018 movie "Karwaan" in Kerala.
"Even when my dear friend Dulquer was shooting with Irrfan in our home town couldn't meet him as I was going through a hectic schedule myself. I had no reason to believe why I had to rush. Today, I regret not shaking hands with-him. I should have just gone to Bombay and met him," Faasil said.
The actor said the country has lost an "impeccable artiste" with Irrfan's demise and he has left a deep vacuum in the cinema community.
"We just didn't have enough of him. Today, when my wife barged into the room and broke the news to me, I will be lying if I say I was shocked, because I continued doing what I was doing.
"The entire day went by today and I could not stop thinking about him. I feel obliged to him. I feel like I owe my career to him. I don't think I would have ever come this far if I had not picked up that DVD and watched an actor who changed my life," Faasil concluded his statement.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
