Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who featured together in one of their most memorable roles 'The Lunchbox', faced a similar journey in Bollywood. They both rose through struggles, but not many would know that Nawazuddin, who was considered to be competition to Irrfan Khan, actually considered the late actor his mentor.

Nawazuddin went on to talk about a movie Irrfan Khan directed him in. The movie, called 'Alvida', released in 2000. Giving reference to the film, Nawaz spoke about how he never thought he would have to say 'Alvida' to Irrfan so soon.

"In the year 2000 a film directed by #IrrfanKhan named ALVIDA starred me and I was lucky to have my mentor as my co-star in many films. No one will ever be able to fill his space in the entire world of cinema. Never thot in the worst of my dreams, that will have to say “ALVIDA” so soon," wrote Nawazuddin while sharing an image of Irrfan on Instagram.

Apart from 'The Lunchbox', Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui also appeared together in Tigmanshu Dhulia's 'Paan Singh Tomar' and 'The Bypass'. They both had cameos in the movies 'New York' and Madhuri Dixit-Nene's comeback film 'Aaja Nachle'.