There’s something about grief. It has an unreal way of connecting people who are otherwise strangers to each other. Having suffered the loss of someone close, I felt at ease while chatting with Babil Khan, son of the late actor Irrfan Khan. Thousands of thoughts crossed my mind before the interview, but his unfiltered approach to the conversation brought in calmness.
“I went on a date recently but couldn’t spend time with her,” Khan narrates. “There was a pool of people that kept coming to talk to me or get clicked with me. It’s new for me, and I couldn’t say no.” While ‘no personal questions’ has always been the memo with celebrities, I was pleasantly surprised with Khan’s raw take on subjects such as dating. Though she refused to go on a second date, Khan probably won many other hearts that day.
View this post on Instagram
Khan, for one, has a natural appeal to him–he’s an artist obsessed with learning and a young boy who’s not afraid to be vulnerable. “I was a lonely kid growing up, I didn’t have many friends,” he says. “And so, I love talking to people. But my baba had a beautiful way of dealing with people, unlike me because I care about what they think of me.” And just like that, it was a matter of minutes before he started talking about his father. “He was a real and fearless man. I’m lucky that I have his films and interviews to connect with him again because baba was so real even on screen,” he says. But as we all know, with a great legacy comes great responsibility! And with Khan, it’s more than performing on screen, it’s about being the son of a man whose loss was felt personally by the whole nation. “Of course, I felt that pressure. But baba’s ideology was to not restrict himself to one kind of cinema and do it all. Once I realised this, I was at ease because I believe I am on that track; I want to explore every genre and take one day at a time,” Khan shares.
View this post on Instagram
Perhaps, it was this belief that got him accolades for his performance in the critically acclaimed Qala, a recent OTT release. It is an unusual first film for a young actor, but Khan refuses to call it an unconventional debut. “I just went for the audition and decided to go with the flow; I didn’t really think,” he says. It’s not only his love for cinema that makes him an artist. If you follow him on social media, you’d realise his passion for music, stints at the spoken fest and interest in Quantum mechanics. “I also am interested in astronomy; such theories fascinate me,” he laughs.
Khan calls himself an ‘introverted extrovert’. “I always look at things in terms of energy. When I’m out, I communicate with people, but when I’m at home, that energy goes deep inside me, and I become reflective,” he explains. So he ends up spending his day reading, playing the guitar, and listening to music. Having grown up surrounded by cinematic influence, his childhood was spent listening to The Beatles and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s songs, and watching cult films such as Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut, thanks to his father. “I absorbed a lot of it when I was young. Growing up in that environment shaped me to be who I am today,” he says. That being said, he believes he has a lot to learn and wants to take one step at a time. With his plans to make it big one day, he wishes to be a revered actor who also writes poetry. “I want to be an exploratory star that cinema loves and respects,” he says.
View this post on Instagram
Much like his father, Khan’s ideology towards life and cinema is anything but usual. A passionate actor, hard-working artist, and a homebody–what makes him this person? “I don’t want to give away the privilege of talking to people and staying connected,” he says.
Find ELLE’s latest issue on stands or download your digital copy here.
