Irrfan Khan was not just a Bollywood actor. He was a role model and inspiration to so many of us. Even though it has been years after his death, his loss still hurts. And, we don’t think this pain is going to fade away any time soon. While Irrfan Khan played many memorable characters – Maqbool, Roohdar, Yogi, Ashoke, Champak, Ranvijay, Rana is our personal favorite.
Why Irrfan Khan As Rana From Piku Will Always Have Our Heart!
While we admired all of Irrfan’s performances, it was his portrayal of Rana Choudhary in Piku that touched our hearts the most. And the reason behind it is how this feminist character taught us so many things about life. What added to the character’s popularity is the honesty with which Irrfan played this beautiful character.
Rana Taught Us How Not To Be Shattered By Toxic Family Members
Even though Rana was surrounded by a squabbling mother and a crabby sister, he was still a genuine being, who had the best interests of others at heart. While his mother and sister didn’t lose an opportunity to ridicule him for how he lost his job in Gulf, he was hardly affected. How he managed the toxicity of his own family gave hope to many, who were continuously shattered by their own toxic family members.
Rana Was A Profound Empath & True Feminist
Hailing from a dysfunctional family himself, Rana could easily empathize with Piku’s difficult relationship with her father. He didn’t generalize Piku’s rage to something petty like ‘a happy woman is a myth.’ He was a profound empath, who would not hesitate to take a stand for others. He had this rare ability to show compassion in the warmest way possible.
In a particular scene, Bhashkor was enraged as his ear machine’s battery was left at the last stop. He incessantly asked Rana to take a U-turn. But Piku rejects the absurd idea as they already had come a long way. It was then, Bhashkor admonished her for not being a good child. After observing the scene, Rana couldn’t take it anymore and decided to take a stand for Piku.
Being a compassionate person, Rana knew that Piku had sacrificed a lot for her ailing father. Rana knew very well how a child’s sacrifice to keep sanity with their overbearing parents always go unnoticed.
Rana knew it was Bhashkor’s controlling nature that had turned Piku into an ill-tempered person. But, what stole our heart was how he took a stand for Piku and told Bhashkor that if had Piku been a careless and irresponsible daughter, she never would’ve agreed to this stressful journey, that meant so much for Bhashkor. This scene gave us a glimpse of Rana’s emotional richness and progressive ideologies.
Rana was a true feminist, who wasn’t scared of a strong and independent woman like Piku. In fact, he admired Piku for her strength, which many men in our regressive society fail to.
Irrfan Made Rana Memorable
While Rana was a well-written character, what made this character immortal is Irrfan’s honest acting. No one could have done justice to the intricacies of Rana’s character the way Irrfan did. With Irrfan’s deep-rooted intensity and his on-screen ease, Rana turned out to be even more charming than expected. How throughout the movie with his one-liners and intense eyes, Rana didn’t only make his place in the hearts of Piku and Bhashkor, but also in ours.
We know our real-life Rana is not with us anymore but he will always stay alive in our hearts!
