<p>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.</p>.<p>The National Award-winning actor released a statement in the wake of Irrfan's death from a rare form of cancer on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Faasil recalled that when he was a student in America, he came across Irrfan's 2006 film "Yun Hota To Kya Hota".</p>.<p>"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?'.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>The actor said he became an even bigger fan of Irrfan after watching his performance in Mira Nair's "The Namesake".</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>He said Irrfan was one of the reasons why he decided to drop out of engineering and become an actor.</p>.<p>"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 <em>Maqbool</em>," Faasil said.</p>.<p>The actor, however, has a deep regret of never being able to meet the prolific actor, even when Irrfan shot for his 2018 movie <em>Karwaan </em>in Kerala.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>"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.</p>
<p>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.</p>.<p>The National Award-winning actor released a statement in the wake of Irrfan's death from a rare form of cancer on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Faasil recalled that when he was a student in America, he came across Irrfan's 2006 film "Yun Hota To Kya Hota".</p>.<p>"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?'.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>The actor said he became an even bigger fan of Irrfan after watching his performance in Mira Nair's "The Namesake".</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>He said Irrfan was one of the reasons why he decided to drop out of engineering and become an actor.</p>.<p>"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 <em>Maqbool</em>," Faasil said.</p>.<p>The actor, however, has a deep regret of never being able to meet the prolific actor, even when Irrfan shot for his 2018 movie <em>Karwaan </em>in Kerala.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>"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.</p>