Remembering That Undefinable Quality Of Actor Irrfan Khan

Khan, who was only 53 when he died earlier this week, had a quality common in French cinema but rarely embraced in Bollywood: He was jolie laide, beautifully ugly or ugly beautiful, but more than that as well. “In a classic, movie sense, he might be said to be a loser type. Yet … Khan’s regal height, his sensuous, animalistic features, give him the air of a god among mortals. Yet, his extraordinary physicality is cut with hallmarks of normalcy.” – Vulture