They were known in recent times as the archrivals of Good Cinema, a male version of the famous Shabana-Smita rivalry.
But Nawazuddin, heartbroken in quarantine to hear of Irrfan Khan’s death, says he can’t understand where the rivalry stories came from.
“Irrfan Bhai was my mentor. He was like an elder brother, and he remained one till the end. People seem to think we came together for Lunchbox. But our relationship went back a long way. In 2000 Irrfan Bhai directed me in an hour-long film titled Alvida. It is one of my best films. I wonder why he never directed after that. Because Irrfan Bhai had the clear-headed focus of a born director.”
Their association goes back a long way. Says Nawaz, “We also worked together in a short film called Bypass which had Asif Kapadia(who directed Irrfan Bhai in Warrior) as a producer, and then in 2013 in a film called Meridian Line….Working with Irrfan Bhai was always a pleasure. I considered him as my mentor and my elder brother. This relationship of respect remained unchanged until his death, although during Lunchbox we were made out to be rivals.”
Nawaz says that was highly embarrassing for him. “I always looked up to him as a mentor. To be pitched against him as a rival was not right. Luckily it didn’t affect our personal equation. I continued to be in touch with him during his illness. His end has left me shocked about the uncertainty of life. I’ll always cherish Irrfan Bhai’s as a human being and an actor. He was beyond brilliant in Haasil, The Namesake, and Maqbool. He never seemed to act. You never caught him out ACTING. He had such a long way to go. Why did this have to happen to him? I’ve seen my sister suffer and die of cancer. I know what it does to the entire family. I wish Irrfan Bhai peace in heaven and his family the strength to carry on. I will miss him.”