Late actor Irrfan Khan was known for his powerful acting, emotional depth and versatility. She took a long and arduous journey to popularity, which had a rocky start. One of the saddest moments in the actor’s career was when his role in Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay (1988) was drastically reduced because his body did not match the requirements of the character, leaving him heartbroken.
In 1986, when renowned filmmaker Mira Nair was casting for Salaam Bombay, she visited the National School of Drama (NSD). During their visit, Irrfan Khan caught their attention due to his attractive appearance and intense focus during a workshop. Nair was so impressed that she decided to cast the actor as a street child named Salim in the film.
It was a dream come true offer for the then 20-year-old actor, he was the only actor from his batch to be selected for a feature film before completing his studies. He moved to Mumbai and lived there in the hope that this opportunity would lay the foundation for his career. But, the dream ended before it even began as Mira realized that Irrfan’s physical appearance did not match the image of malnourished street children that she wanted to portray in the film.
As a result, just two days before shooting, he had to be removed and given a small role in the film, significantly reducing his screen time.
While talking about the incident to the Indian magazine Open 2025, she once shared, “When Mira told me that my part has been reduced I kept crying the whole night. But it changed something within me. After that I was ready for anything.”
Despite the failure, the filmmaker assured the English Medium actor that she would one day cast him, which she did almost two decades later in 2006’s The Namesake. During those years, the actor struggled a lot, first in television and then in the film industry, until he got success with Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool in 2004.
Also read: Irrfan Khan was ‘selfish’ in his personal life, claims Sudhir Mishra: ‘He was not boring, he was a badass’
