'Lost one of our most meritorious members': NSD alma mater pays emotional tribute to Irrfan Khan

New Delhi, April 29 (IANS): The National School of Drama (NSD) on Wednesday condoled the demise of Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan saying that the theatre school has lost one of its "meritorious" members.

"Not only the National School of Drama has lost one of its meritorious members, Irrfan's demise is a big loss to the Indian art and cinema fraternity," said NSD in a statement.

During his NSD days, the Padma Shree actor performed various plays, including Carlo Goldoni's The Fan, Maxim Gorky's Lower Depth and Ladaku Murga. "Your acting in all the plays was commendable," NSD said.

Irrfan Khan was an alumnus of the National School Drama in 1987, he pursued specialisation in acting from the prestigious theatre school.

One of Bollywood's finest actors, Khan, had worked in various famous Bollywood films such as Piku, Sunday, The Lunchbox, Aan: Men at Work and Ghaath.

Irrfan Khan who passed away on Wednesday had a strong love for the theatre world. 

It was the National School of Drama that helped the late veteran actor to find a footing in Indian cinema.

In 1986, director Mira Nair paid a visit to NSD to look for actors to cast in her film Salaam Bombay. She picked the 20-year-old Irrfan for a small role.

Apart from letting Irrfan explore the world of acting, his alma mater also played a crucial role in his love story with his wife Sutapa Sikdar.

Sutapa, who is a writer, was Irrfan's collegemate. The two fell in love during their college days and later tied the knot in 1995.

As Irrfan passed away on Wednesday, his alma Mater NSD paid an emotional tribute to him.

On the behalf of NSD family, Director-In-Charge Suresh Sharma tweeted: "The news of the demise of noted actor (alumnus NSD) Mr Irrfan Khan is highly shocking. The NSD family pays a heartfelt tribute. Irrfan Bhai had contributed a lot to theatre. God bless the departed soul."

Irrfan was only 54. Earlier this week, he was hospitalised after being diagnosed with colon infection. He even battled a neuroendocrine tumour for several months and returned to Mumbai a few months ago after being treated in London.

While remembering the versatile actor, a glance through his Twitter feed provided us with one of his precious pictures from his NSD days.

In 2016, Irrfan had posted a black-and-white picture in which he is having a fun conversation with his friends from NSD.

"Woh Bhi Kya Din the NSD ke," Irrfan had captioned the image that shows him sporting eyeglasses.

Before learning acting at NSD, Irrfan had pursued an MA degree from one of the colleges in his home town Jaipur.