Our first interaction was over his namesake. I was working for a film weekly at the time and, one day, he surprised me with a call on the o...
Our first interaction was over his namesake. I was working for a film weekly at the time and, one day, he surprised me with a call on the office landline. ‘We have never met, I saw your name in the paper and decided to reach out,’ he offered by way of introduction, going on to inform me that a man by the name of Irfan Khan had been arrested in a drug bust. ‘Obviously, it’s not me, but since the news was reported, I have been bombarded with calls. Can you help me set the record straight?’ he requested.
I knew him from the television soap Banegi Apni Baat, and though we had never met, I assured him that I would put out the news. But I was quick to add that the paper came out only once a week so there were still a couple of days to go before the next edition hits the stands. ‘Can you wait?’ I asked, uncertainly. He said he would and rang off. I kept my word. A few years later, in 2012, Irfan changed his name; he added an extra ‘r’ to Irfan. Then, for a while, he dropped the Khan. At one point, he even...
