Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj of 'Maqbool' fame shared an emotional Instagram post on deceased actor Irrfan Khan. He said, “There were and there are and there will be a lot of tears to shed.” Sharing a picture of the two, he wrote, Thank You sir. Thank you. There were and there are and there will be a lot of tears to shed. Thankyou for helping me bring them out. Thank you.”
He wrote it felt like the explosion of a bomb in his heart when he first heard of the actor's death. Sharing an anecdote from February 2014, when 'Haider' was being shot in Srinagar. A crowd gathered around the crew and became unruly as they expected a selfie with Irrfan. As security began to whisk the actor away, “A boy runs out from a lane situated at the square leg direction of the car. He bends his shoulder back and throws a stone like a professional cricketer at the car to run him out. The wind screen shatters into pieces.” Vishal added that the panicked security guard almost opened fire on him but was stopped by Irrfan “just in time”.
The actor was not the least bit upset by the incident and in fact laughed about it later, “Vishal sahab, kya throw maara saale ne.. Aisa graceful ki Jonty Rhodes yaad aa gaya (Vishal sahab, what a throw it was.. So graceful that I was reminded of Jonty Rhodes).”
Vishal wrote about when he saw Irrfan’s mortal remains at the crematorium. “I walk forward to face him. I am looking at his face endlessly. Time has stopped. I realize how heavy his eyelids are. A lullaby in Irrfan’s voice echoes in my head... ‘Aa ja ri nindo tu aa ja.. Ifu ki aankhon mein.. (Come dear sleep, come.. Settle into Ifu’s eyes..)’.”
“Tears have drenched my N95 mask as I stand still, looking at his serene calm face. I want to cry aloud. I can’t. My throat is choked,” Vishal wrote.
