Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has revealed that the late actor Irrfan Khan knew about his death 'for about two years.' Irrfan left for heavenly abode on April 29, 2020, after a long battle with cancer. He was 53. The actor had been diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in 2018. He passed away in Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. Now, in an interview with Indian Express, Naseeruddin said that during one of his conversations with Irrfan he has told him that 'it (death) was going to happen'.
Naseeruddin Shah, who has worked with Irrfan in '7 Khoon maaf', 'Maqbool', 'Private Detective: Two Plus Two Plus One' and among others, said "That was a unique thing because Irrfan knew for about two years that it was going to happen. I spoke to him several times over the phone even when he was in the hospital in London. It was amazing and it was a real lesson how he dealt with it. He would say: ‘I am observing death approaching me and how many people get that opportunity? To be able to see this grim reaper coming towards you and you are almost welcoming him'."
"Of course, it was a terrible loss. But it was not in our hands. It was just your bodily machinery shutting down. You don’t have any control over it," he added.
Further, he said, "I don’t think it is healthy to obsess about death. I definitely don’t do that. I have experienced several deaths of my close ones — my family, my parents. Also, some dear friends, particularly the unexpected ones — the way Om [Puri] died, the way Farooq [Shaikh] died — were terrible shocks. But it does no good to obsess over it. I think that death is the most unimportant part of life and ironically also the most unavoidable one as well. I don’t dwell on it at all. I will go when I have to go. As long as I am around I want to be as alert and as alive as possible. I would not like my friends to be lamenting about me when I am gone but celebrating and laughing and talking about the things I did. I would rather they remember me for the life I have lived than talk about how I died."
