Babil Khan is making his debut at the IFFI with two films – Qala and The Railway Men – following in the footsteps of his illustrious father Irrfan Khan, who was a familiar face at the IFFIs, with his movies being regularly screened at the various iterations of the festival. We bring you excerpts from the media conference:
Taking father’s legacy forward
“I am not running any legacy. If I think about what my dad did, then I will just be thinking about all that. At my age, I’m just trying to live up to what my father did. As I grow older, I’ll review what I’m doing. And when I’m old, I’ll relive all these memories and feel good
Dealing with expectations
I don’t think too much. This has helped me go forward professionally. I knew I was coming into the profession with loads of baggage. Honestly speaking, if I was thinking about it, I would have still been only thinking and my career would have never taken off.
About The Railway Men
I feel it’s important for people to know about these men and women who gave up their lives for a cause. It will trigger the sense of heroism. A hero doesn’t have to be grandiose or have a superpower. Every one of us can be a superhero by rising to the occasion when a crisis happens. It’s how you look at life at that point and what you choose to do at that crucial moment that makes you a hero.
Learning experiences
I understood that I cannot judge myself and that one must trust the director, co-stars and the entire environment for a project to go well. I was fearful initially, wondering, ‘yeh kaisa lag raha hai?’ But once the team spirit kicked in, and I surrendered completely to my director, I found I could communicate well.
From real to reel
I don’t think you should leave your real self behind. I think you should integrate that character with yourself. You cannot be somebody else – if you try to do that, you would be faking it. Every one of us is an actor. We suppress some parts of our characters and focus on others, depending on what we want to portray. So, I do that in reel life too.
Dealing with emotions
The cure is to feel both emotions as deeply as possible, instead of trying to avoid them. When you feel pain and allow yourself to experience it to the fullest, it’s at that point that creativity blossoms.
