Irrfan Khan died in 2020 after battling a neuroendocrine tumour for two years.
Babil Khan, son of late actor Irrfan Khan, is following in the footsteps of his father with a career in acting. He is making his screen debut with writer-filmmaker Anvitaa Dutt’s 'Qala' which also stars Tripti Dimri and during the trailer launch of the forthcoming Netflix film, he says that he is ready to explore his own qualities now and make his own space.
“Two years ago, when we were shooting, that time also the pressure was there. It would overwhelm me, it would scare me but now it motivates me to do better and work. The definition of pressure has changed now,” he said during the trailer launch. He began filming the upcoming Netflix film two years ago, a few months after Irrfan passed away in April 2020.
When asked what qualities of Irrfan would he like to imbibe at the start of his career, Babil said, “Mere father ki jo khoobiyan thi woh leke chale gaye, ab mein apni khoobiyan explore karunga (My father took his qualities with him, now I’ll explore mine).”
Set in the 1940s, Qala chronicles the complicated relationship between a young singer, Triptii Dimri, and her mother, Swastika Mukherjee.
Babil says that he is not thinking about charting his own journey as for him, we think that we are in control of our journey but we are not. "I will improvise with what life throws at me. I want to explore everything, I want to do all kinds of films and play all kinds of characters. I want to just explore, that’s it,” he says.
'Qala' also stars Amit Sial, lyricist Varun Grover and has been produced by Karnesh Ssharma, who previously collaborated with Anvitaa Dutt for the 2020 film 'Bulbbul'. With music by Amit Trivedi and lyrics by Dutt, Grover, Swanand Kirkire and Kausar Munir, Qala is scheduled to release on December 1.