Inside a web of lies

Babil Khan on his latest show Logout and his ‘toxic’ relationship with social media
Babil Khan
Babil Khan
Updated on
3 min read

It was eerily prophetic. Days after the release of the cybercrime thriller show Logout on ZEE5, a vulnerable and teary-eyed Babil Khan took to social media to express his frustration with Bollywood and its hyper-competitive ecosystem. It was a cry for help, and one that was heard, as support poured in for the 26-year-old actor who felt blindsided. Before this incident, Babil was busy promoting his show.

Babil plays a fame-hungry influencer who gets caught in a twisted plot after the device he seeks to control starts manipulating the narrative around him. “Social media has a toxic relationship with me. For my generation, it is hard to relate how we are inundated with information that amplifies the desire to be wanted and loved. I don’t use social media much and avoid engagement on it, but I do desire validation. This film brought to light all that I was suppressing within me. Somewhere I was creating an image of being different and edgy,” he says.

The actor confessed during the promotions that he had fallen prey to the image the media had curated for him as being distinct from the rest. “It was validation. I felt different, and how people perceived me became my representation. But, after some time, the chorus of being different starts getting infuriating. It is like a song; after it becomes mainstream, it starts rankling the very ears which heard it on a loop. But it was just an image created by the opinion of others,” he says.

Acknowledging the love and acceptance coming his way has a lot to do with the goodwill and legacy left behind by his father, the late Irrfan. Calling him a courageous lone wolf, who chose to walk the path he set for himself, irrespective of the noise and factors around him. He describes his father as a seasoned poker player, in comparison to himself, who is just an UNO player. “It took my father nearly 20 years to become famous. But from the time he started at the National School of Drama, he was constantly working on his craft. He had this innate strength to traverse his path by himself. He didn’t need to rely on PR teams or brands for anything. It was his love affair with his craft which was his sole driving force. On the other hand, I take up the pressure, which sometimes is unnecessary, but I need it to prove to myself. However, my mother keeps asking me to relax and focus on work rather than getting entangled with stuff. But I thrive on the pressure of being on set, improving

with everything I do. I am trying to detach my identity from my job, and getting better at it.”

Babil made his debut in Anvita Dutt’s haunting tale, Qala, in 2022, playing a musical prodigy caught in a complex web of sibling rivalry. He won accolades for his measured performance as a locomotive pilot in The Railway Men, inspired by the true-life story of unsung railway officials during the aftermath of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. This was followed by the coming-of-age Friday Night Plan.

In the digital landscape, the curated images and social currency often upstage talent over influence, especially with the new generation. Babil remains hopeful. “The camera is transparent; it doesn’t lie. You cannot fool people with acting. Yes, we do live in a society which is governed by capitalism, and one needs to sell. There is a commerce aspect attached to it, and the social media dynamics come into play. But I have been lucky to get work based on auditions where I have been selected for my aptitude for the part.”

He divulges sharing screen space with MRS actor Sanya Malhotra is on his wishlist: “She is a phenomenal actor, whom I really want to work with”, smiles Babil.

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