Irrfan Khan to receive DIFF Honorary Award

Well-known Indian actor, Irrfan Khan, will receive the DIFF Honorary Award this year on December 13, 2017, in commendation of his contributions to film throughout an illustrious and imperious career that began over 30 years ago. Irrfan Khan is also a former Muhr AsiaAfrica Award winner for ‘Best Actor – Feature’ for Lunchbox in 2008.

Khan began his acting career starring in a number of TV Series, and the Academy Award-nominated Salaam Bombay! He first gained international acclaim for his role in The Warrior (2001), a film circa feudal India in Rajasthan where Khan plays Lafcadia, a fierce warrior who abandons his tyrannical Lord to seek peace in his village. Thereafter, Khan starred in Asvin Kumar’s short film, Road to Ladakh (2003) which received warm reviews on the international festival circuit, and played the title role in the critically acclaimed adaptation Maqbool (2003), and the Bollywood film Haasil (2003) – receiving countless award nominations from the likes of; Screen Weekly, Zee Cine, and Filmfare.

Following his successes, Khan appeared in a number of lead and support roles, namely in the box office hits, Life in a Metro (2007), and was awarded the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, and the nineteen-time Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe winning smash hit, Slumdog Millionaire (2008), in which he played the police inspector and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Irrfan Khan played more recent roles in the Life of Pi (2012), The Amazing Spiderman (2012), the 1.6 billion-dollar box-office smash hit Jurassic World (2015), and Inferno (2016).

DIFF’s Chairman, Abdulhamid Juma, said: “Irrfan Khan’s dedication to acting and the film industry, his ascension from small roles in Indian cinema to blockbuster hits, and his award-winning acclaim are just some of the reasons why we at DIFF are delighted to present him with the DIFF Honorary Award at the Festival’s 14^th Edition.”