It was the ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ star, Irrfan Khan who shared space with the veteran  actor Anupam Kher on the show this week. During the episode he revealed a lot of things about his past and his journey into the world of Bollywood. The Shakespearean phrase ‘what’s in a name’ holds very true for him. Being a Khan unlike the other big ‘khans’ of Bollywood, life wasn’t as simple and easy for him.. With his unconventional good looks and the ‘not so’ Bollywood hero-like face, he still managed to make a name for himself in India and abroad.

Here is a list of 10 unknown things about Irrfan Khan that he revealed to the audience on The Anupam Kher Show. Read through if you missed the episode.

His real Name– Not many people know Irrfan’s real name. Born in Jaipur into a conservative family, his real name is Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan.

Tryst with Hunting -During his childhood days, Irrfan used to go hunting with his father. His father was a very passionate hunter who would take Irrfan along to all his hunting excursions. To much surprise, Irrfan never killed any animal because he was too sensitive to kill a living being. We are glad that the hunting chapter was long closed as it would have surely landed him in quite a bit if trouble now.

A vegetarian– A very unusual thing about Irrfan Khan as a child was that he confessed to be a vegetarian. Irrfan  felt  extremely odd to eat animals. His father called him a ‘brahmin’ born into a Pathan household because of this particular trait of his.

His much awaited dream– Not very enthusiastic about academics, Irrfan always had an interest in theater. His passion was to enter the National School of Drama for which he convinced his mother who thought really lowly about this profession. When he finally decided to enroll himself in NSD, the death of his father left him with all the responsibilities of the house. He was merely 19 years-old back then.

His unconventional looks– Irrfan Khan was always well aware about his not so appealing looks. He often imagined  that his face looked like that of Mithun Chakravarty. Because of his unconventional looks, he felt it was more important to impress people with his performance and not with his looks. Looking at how far he has come, we definitely feel that he has made a very wise decision for sure!

His first role and the disappointment that came with it– He bagged his first role when he was in his final year in the NSD. Mira Nair chose him for a role in Salaam Bombay. Sadly when the movie came out his role, his role was edited.

TV fame before entering Bollywood– Journey from the small screen to the big screen has not been a cakewalk for Irrfan. Irrfan was a TV regular but at one point in his career he felt  so bored that he thought of quitting. Had it not been for Asif Kapadia’s ‘warrior’, we would have not known of the man called Irrfan Khan today.  

An epitome of innocence– Irrfan shares a moment from his TV days when he was in search of TV roles. He was told by people that the only way to bag good roles was to climb a TV tower, and you know he actually did that out of naivety. The only thing he found atop the TV tower were iron rods and nothing else.

The film Paan Singh Tomar holds a special place in his life– Much appreciated for his performance in the movie ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, the movie holds a very special place in Irrfan’s life. The character of Paan was a reflection of his own father’s personality. In a way, he felt the movie as a whole was a tribute to his deceased father.

Irrfan's Unconditional bond with his father– Irrfan was very close to his father in his childhood days. After his demise, Irrfan always felt his absence in his life. Throughout the show, Irrfan couldn’t stop himself from incessantly talking about his father.