SENSE AND SENSITIVITY

Conflicted between the purity of the art and commercial obligations, Babil Khan just wants to make people laugh and remain happy

- PUJA AWASTHI

Freed from the encumbrance of expectation, away from the spotlight and beyond the need to conform, Babil Khan would rather be just Mowgli.

We shall return to that desire. Over a month ago, Khan was first seen on screen as a brilliant but doomed singer in the film Qala (Netflix). For the larger part of the film, his is the absence that is its strongest presence. He has just a few spoken lines, but the spooky-snarky manner in which he delivers two words, “Chal jhooti [Come on, liar]”, to the film’s eponymous character lives on beyond the movie’s defining deaths.

Khan, 24, has a profound way with words. For an actor, words are armour. Dialogue can compensate for the missing subtlety in expression. For someone just starting out, words are refuge.

But those were not the thoughts that crossed Khan’s mind when the part came to him.

“I was not thinking about whether the role would make me look good, I was not strategising… just extremely excited to be a part of Anvita’s (Dutt, the director) world. I knew that I did not want a lead role. In a supporting act, I could be part of the process, without it (the film) being about me,” he says.

The last seems dissonant when you are the son of one of the country’s best-loved talents–the late Irrfan Khan, who impressed filmmakers and audiences beyond borders. It also seems strange in these times when ‘debuts’ trump films.

Without deprecating ‘star-kids’, Khan does not consider himself one. “Baba was an actor first. He became a star after 30 years of hard work and dedication. We (brother Ayaan included) were not exposed to his popularity or wealth,” he says.