Vishal Bhardwaj on Irrfan Khan's death: A part of me has died with him

National award-winning filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, who is a frequent collaborator with Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan, says the sudden demise of the actor, who passed away this morning, tore him apart.

"I feared that he would be gone much before his time but didn't expect that it will be so devastating and ravaging to me personally. It feels as if I am torn into two parts. A part of me has died with him," said Vishal.

Vishal has directed Irrfan Khan in films such as Maqbool, Haider and 7 Khoon Maaf. According to unconfirmed sources, the filmmaker had planned a film bringing together the Piku pair of Irrfan and Deepika Padukone. But that was not to be.

Irrfan Khan had been admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital in Mumbai due to a colon infection on Tuesday and passed away on Wednesday. He had been ailing ever since he was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour a while back and was under medical attention for the same. He even went abroad for treatment.