Tom Hanks had rejoiced being the "coolest guy" on the sets of Hollywood film Inferno but he says it lasted only until Indian actor Irrfan Khan walked in.
Back in 2016, during a media event organized by Sony Pictures Entertainment for the release of 'Inferno', Hanks said: "Here's what I hate about Irrfan Khan... I always think I'm the coolest guy in the room, and everybody's hanging on to every word I say and everybody's a little intimidated to be in my presence. And then Irrfan Khan walks into the room. And he's the coolest guy in the room. And everybody's intimidated to be in his presence and everybody's hanging on to his every word."
Irrfan Khan, the actor extraordinaire, who starred and garnered critical and commercial acclaim in both Hollywood and Bollywood movies like The Namesake, A Mighty Heart and Life of Pi, the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and the commercially successful The Amazing Spider-Man and Jurassic World succumbed to cancer on April 29.
On October 14th, 2016, he was seen in Inferno with Forrest Gump star Hanks. Dan Brown's popular book Inferno was infused life with the movie by director Ron Howard who visualised Brown's other popular books, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons.
The two-time Oscar-winning actor was impressed with Irrfan's acting skills so much so that he jotted down a way to mimic his flair.
Hanks had said: "And as soon as I walked up to him I said, 'Irrfan Khan, I'm going to steal from you everything I possibly can. I'm going to start speaking very quietly in films. I'm going to wear very nice suits. And I will draw out the last sound of every sentence that I say.' And by doing that, I will be doing a very pale imitation of the coolest guy in the room."
(With inputs from IANS)