Irrfan Khan: One of the True Greats of Cinema to Receive DIFF Honorary Award at the Festival's 14th Edition

Dubai, 04 December 2017:  The Dubai International Film Festival welcomes one of India’s most prominent and celebrated actors ever, Irrfan Khan, to receive the DIFF Honorary Award in commendation of his contributions to film throughout an illustrious and imperious career that began over 30 years ago. With his name emblazoned on the world stage Irrfan Khan, the former Muhr AsiaAfrica Award winner for ‘Best Actor – Feature’ for the Lunchbox in 2008, returns to DIFF to have his undeniable talents celebrated once more when he is presented with the DIFF Honorary Award on 13, December, 2017.

Irrfan Khan began his acting career working in Indian Cinema, starring in a number of TV Series, and the Academy Award-nominated Salaam Bombay!. Khan first gained international acclaim for his role in The Warrior (2001), a film circa feudal India in the State of Rajasthan where Khan plays Lafcadia, a fierce warrior who abandons his tyrannical Lord to seek peace in his village. Thereafter Khan starred in Asvin Kumar’s short film, Road to Ladakh (2003) which received warm reviews on the international festival circuit, and played the title role in the critically acclaimed adaptation Maqbool (2003), and the Bollywood film Haasil (2003) – receiving countless award nominations from the likes of; Screen Weekly, Zee Cine, and Filmfare.

Following his successes, Khan appeared in a number of lead and support roles, namely in the box office hits, Life in a Metro (2007), and was awarded the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, and the nineteen-time Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe winning smash hit, Slumdog Millionaire (2008), in which he played the Police Inspector and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Jump forward to 2017, and Irrfan Khan continues to make waves in the film industry with his more recent roles including the Life of Pi (2012), The Amazing Spiderman (2012), the 1.6 billion dollar box-office smash hit Jurassic World (2015), and Inferno (2016), through which he cemented his place as a truly auspicious actor.

Irrfan Khan has graced the big screen alongside a number of household names such as Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman in Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited (2007), and in Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart (2007) with Angelina Jolie. Khan’s  upcoming productions include the Hindi-drama feature film ‘The Song of Scorpions’, which premiered earlier this year at the 70th Locarno Film Festival, and will screen at the 14th Edition of DIFF as part of the Cinema of the World showcase. Unquestionably a fan-favourite and a stand-out actor in Hindi Cinema, and for his roles in British Films, and Hollywood, Irrfan Khan garnered India’s fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, in 2011 for his contributions to the field of arts.

DIFF’s Chairman, Abdulhamid Juma, said “Irrfan Khan is one of the greats of acting and cinema, with an array of acting credits that are testament to his incredible talents and his adaptability to play varying roles across many genres. His dedication to acting and the film industry, his ascension from small roles in Indian cinema to blockbuster hits, and his award-winning acclaim are just some of the reasons why we at DIFF are delighted to present him with the DIFF Honorary Award at the Festival’s 14th Edition.”

The 14th Edition of DIFF will showcase an array of films over eight days at the Madinat Jumeirah Arena, Madinat Theatre, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, VOX Cinemas Mall of the Emirates, and THE BEACH opposite JBR – from 6-13 December, 2017. Film-fans can purchase their tickets from the DIFF box office, which is now open and at the box office at VOX Cinemas, Mall of the Emirates. Tickets will also be available from the Madinat Arena, Madinat Jumeirah from 5th December and from Madinat Theatre, Souk Madinat Jumeirah on 6th December, 2017.