About Irfaan
Born in Gwalior on 4th November 1966, Irfaan started his journey as a cartoonist very
early in life.
Even in his boyhood Irfaan experienced anger towards society and injustices in the socio-political system. He was brought up to put forward his point of view but not to offend anyone. Irfaan’s mother was fond of sketching. She passed on her legacy.
Armed with a pencil, a unique sensitivity towards society and a great sense of satire, Irfaan began cartooning. His first ever published cartoon was in a local magazine called Swadesh in Gwalior. He was seventeen. He was paid five rupees. And a beginning was made.
Irfaan entered the sphere of political cartooning in 1982 with Dainik Bhaskar, Gwalior. The time that followed was time of freelance struggle, of lots of practice, of refining an art form.
In 1989 Irfaan organized his first exhibition of cartoons in Shridharani Gallery in Triveni Kala Sangam, Delhi - a collection of a 79 cartoons!
In 1990, Irfaan started working with Navbharat Times in Lucknow. When he began, no other Hindi newspaper in Lucknow was publishing a political cartoon in their dailies. The concept became so popular that within months ten other newspapers had cartoon corners in their pages. In that sense Irfaan was a pioneer. (He has been a pioneer in several things; he was the first cartoonist in India to toy with the electronic medium, the first to have organized exhibitions on a large scale, among the few to be called to the Asian Cartoon Exhibition in Japan, among others.)
In 1994, Irfaan started working as a freelancer with The Economic Times with Mr. Swaminathen Aiyyar. Till this point he had been a cartoonist for Hindi Newspapers. But so strong was his sense of satire and so integral his contribution to the paper that he was provided a sub editor specifically to assist him in his translations. Irfaan’s heart fills with warmth to think of Mr. Aiyyar, his help and recognition that were so important in those early days in Delhi. Irfaan became the staff cartoonist with Economic Times in 1995.
In 1996, he worked with Prabhu Chwala in The Financial Express, in 1997 he joined Mr. M. J. Akbar in The Asian Age, published from Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and London. It was through here that he acquired a position in the panel of Lurie’s (Time Magazine’s cartoonist) Cartoon News, New York. In 1997 Irfaan worked on social cartoons with Express Newsline.
The then director of Economic Times, Mr. Vijay Jindal, joined Zee news. In 2000 he called Irfaan. Irfaan went on to give the daily cartoon to the Zee News website, contributing to the ‘Personality of the Week’ cartoon to Morning Zee and preparing a piece called “Aaj Ka cartoon” for the evening news.
He became the producer-cum-anchor with his TV show ‘Shakhsiyat’ on Zee News, and Itni Si Baat on Sahara Samay. In 2003 he undertook the task of script writing in the political satire, Gustakhi Maaf on NDTV India.
Irfaan is currently associated with Jansatta; a journey of a rich working experience spanning over major national newspapers like The Indian Express, The Asian Age, The Economic Times, The Financial Express and The Navbharat Times behind him.
Irfaan's cartoons have been published in the Far Eastern Economic Review and Fun World of Hong Kong; he is the only Indian cartoonist on cartoonstock.com, UK, a site dedicated to the works of the world’s best in the field; he has also contributed for editorialcartoons.net, making cartoons on South Asian politics.
Irfaan’s support system is as dependable as it gets. His wife Arti and his three children stand by him in his jokes and in his life. Arti is the lifeline behind all his efforts, helping him out in all his endeavours, be it the daily cartoons, the exhibitions, or his TV shows. The house is vibrant with un-dying energy and the spirit passes on to his work.
