Irrfan Khan may come from a family of Pathans, but the actor admits that he has some distinctly “un-Pathan” traits.
While his family has a feudal background, where people had their own guns and took pride in hunting, Irrfan himself never liked to kill animals and is in fact, a vegetarian.
“My family would tell me, ‘Brahmin paida hua Pathano ke ghar mein,” Irrfan revealed while shooting for Anupam Kher’s chat show.
“Dad always used to take us along when he went hunting,” said Irrfan, revealing more about his background. “For us, it was adventurous; but when I went with my sister or my little brother, it was a bit traumatic because even though we enjoyed the mystery of the jungle and being in a new environment, when a wild animal was ultimately killed, we used to imagine what would happen to the animal’s family or its mother. We used to create an emotional connect with the animal. I learnt how to use the rifle, but I never hunted with it. I also strangely, did not eat non-vegetarian food; maybe I didn’t enjoy the taste.” The actor added, “My mother was the complete opposite of my dad. She was very soft in nature, philosophical even. She never approved of him hunting and that disagreement was always present between them.”
