A throwback of late actor Irrfan Khan and son Babil (courtesy babil.i.k)
Highlights
- "Surrender to the dance of uncertainty," Irrfan had told Babil
- Irrfan Khan died at the age of 53 last April
- After Irrfan's death, Riz Ahmed had dedicated a note to the late actor
In a poignant moment, Irrfan Khan was invoked at the Gotham Awards held in New York yesterday. British star Riz Ahmed, winner of the Best Actor award for his performance in Sound Of Metal, referenced the late star who was claimed by cancer last year. In his winning speech, Riz quoted a lesson from Irrfan Khan to son Babil: "Surrender to the dance of uncertainty." Irrfan died at the age of 53 last April after a hard-fought battle against cancer. In her eulogy, the actor's wife Sutapa Sikdar wrote that she had asked her sons Babil and Ayaan to sum up what they had learnt from their father. Babil's words were these: 'Learn to surrender to the dance of uncertainty and trust your faith in the universe" - read her post here.
Journalist Anne Thompson tweeted: "At the Gotham Awards, as Riz Ahmed accepted Best Actor for Sound Of Metal, he quoted Irrfan Khan, "who we lost this year, his words: 'surrender to the dance of uncertainty.' It feels like a wobbly time. If we can wobble together we may find each other dancing."
Riz Ahmed, who plays a drummer in the Oscar-tipped Sound Of Metal, shared this when Irrfan Khan died last year: "Rest in peace one of our greatest actors of our time, Irrfan Khan. I never met him but he was an inspiration and hero to me and millions of others. His work was consistently transcendent, he was a guiding light for so many of us.
For those unfamiliar with Irrfan's work, Riz's recommendations were to watch The Lunchbox and The Warrior. "A true artist who spanned Bollywood and Hollywood and was acclaimed in both," Riz tweeted.
Riz Ahmed was in august company in the Best Actor slate at the Gotham Awards - the nominees included Jude Law and late actor Chadwick Boseman, to whom the awards dedicated a special tribute. Other winners included Nomadland, the series Watchmen and Breakthrough actor Kingsley Ben-Adir.