Fans worldwide have mourned the loss of Bollywood star Irrfan Khan, who died Wednesday after being admitted to a hospital in Mumbai, India, with a colon infection.
A number of high profile South Asian Hollywood stars have posted social media tributes for the Khan, 54, who had starred in Bollywood films such as "The Lunchbox" and "Paan Singh Tomar," for which he won an Indian National Film Award for best actor in 2012. He also starred in "The Life of Pi," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Namesake."
Khan had announced in 2018 that he had been diagnosed with a rare neuroendocrine cancer.
British actor Riz Ahmed called Khan one of the “greatest actors of our time” and “a guiding light for so many of us.”
American comedian Hari Kondabolu said Khan’s film “The Lunchbox” is one of his favorite movies and encouraged people to watch his work.
“The loss of Irrfan Khan - at such a young age - is devastating,” actress, writer and producer Mindy Kaling wrote on Twitter. “He was my favorite actor. I can’t think of someone who gave such layered and thoughtful performances but was also a movie star; you couldn’t take your eyes off of him onscreen.”
Kaling also tweeted a quote about Khan from Tom Hanks.
Actress Priyanka Chopra, who starred alongside Khan in the Bollywood film “7 Khoon Maaf,” said that his talent forged the way for so many, and that the charisma he brought to everything was “pure magic.”
Canadian YouTuber and "A Little Late With Lilly Singh" host Lilly Singh called Khan “an extraordinary actor with limitless talent.”
“You were and will continue to be magic and an inspiration to myself and so many others,” Singh wrote on Twitter.
"A Little Late With Lilly Singh" airs on NBC, which is owned by NBC News' parent company, NBCUniversal.
“Irrfan’s art and humanity will be badly missed,” Kal Penn, actor and former White House Office of Public Engagement associate director, wrote on Twitter. “Never seen someone use the beats of silence so beautifully to convey so much about who we are.”