To recognise the contribution of one of the finest Indian actors on the international stage, Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) will give an honorary award to Irrfan Khan. He will be presented the award on December 13, during the 14th edition of DIFF, which is slated to start from December 6.
Making this announcement, DIFF said, “With his name emblazoned on the world stage, Irrfan Khan, the former Muhr AsiaAfrica Award winner for ‘Best Actor – Feature’ for the Lunchbox in 2008, returns to DIFF to have his undeniable talents celebrated once more when he is presented with the DIFF Honorary Award on 13 December, 2017.”
Lauding the acting talent of Irrfan Khan, Abdulhamid Juma, DIFF’s Chairman, said, “Irrfan Khan is one of the greats of acting and cinema, with an array of acting credits that are testaments to his incredible talents and his adaptability to play varying roles across many genres.”
He added, “His 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.”
Irrfan Khan had a passion for acting since his childhood. While he was doing his masters, he earned a scholarship to study at the premium institute National School of Drama (NSD) in New Delhi. An actor par excellence, he carved his own path by defying the conventional paths in Indian entertainment industry. His films has made youngsters in India come back into cinema looking for alternative entertainment and seeking more from cinema than is given usually.
Recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, Irrfan Khan has starred in a remarkable list of films which marked the beginning of a new definition of entertaining cinema in India, including Paan Singh Tomar, Haasil, Life In A Metro, Maqbool, The Lunchbox, Piku and Talvaar. He is also popular in the West for films like The Namesake (2006), New York, I Love You (2008), A Mighty Heart (2007), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Life of Pi (2012), and Jurassic World (2015) as well as in the HBO series In Treatment (2008).
Irrfan Khan has graced the big screen alongside a number of household names such as Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman in Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited (2007), and in Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart (2007) with Angelina Jolie. Khan’s upcoming productions include the Hindi-drama feature film 'The Song of Scorpions', which premiered earlier this year at the 70th Locarno Film Festival, was also screened at the Singapore International Film Festival and will be showcased at the 14th Edition of DIFF as part of the Cinema of the World event.
The Dubai International Film Festival will showcase an array of films over eight days at the Madinat Jumeirah Arena, Madinat Theatre, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, VOX Cinemas Mall of the Emirates, and THE BEACH opposite JBR – from December 6 to 13.