Having made a successful film debut with Qala, Babil Khan will soon be seen in the Netflix limited series The Railway Men. Inspired by true stories from around the Bhopal gas tragedy, the series sees Babil play a railway employee. The show also stars Kay Kay Menon as the Bhopal Junction station master. Kay Kay has famously worked with Babil’s father, the later Irrfan Khan, on numerous occasions. In a chat with DNA, the veteran actor spoke about how Babil differs as an actor from his father.
When asked about his impressions about young Babil, Kay Kay responded, “I think he is completely individual in himself.” Joking about his physical resemblance with his father, the actor added, “He has the height and maybe a bit of the face. But as a person and as an actor, he is different.”
Kay Kay and Irrfan first shared screen space in the TV series Darr in 1995 and again worked together in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider in 2014. Now, having worked with Irrfan’s son in The Railway Men, Kay Kay compared the two and said of the younger actor, “He has something of his own and I think he should just preserve that. He shouldn’t try and analyse it too much. Just let it be there because certain magic happens without you knowing. Just keep it there without trying to find out why it’s happening. Let it come naturally.”
Babil won critical acclaim for his portrayal of a singer in his debut film Qala. He has also been praised by fans for his intensity in the limited screen time he has in The Railway Men trailer. Kay Kay elaborates on Babil’s acting process. “You will see that in the series. There are certain things that he does that he cannot design. It just comes from within. That should be preserved. The genesis of that could be anything – the way he lives, thinks or anything else. But he should not change himself so much that that part gets changed,” says the actor.
Irrfan is widely regarded as one of the greatest Indian actors ever and is one of the few Indians to successfully cross over into Hollywood, having worked in both big blockbusters and critically-acclaimed indie films. The actor passed away in April 2020 at the age of 53 after a prolonged battle with cancer.
Babil’s new series The Railway Men also features Kay Kay, R Madhavan and Divyenndu in lead roles along with a big ensemble cast. The show premieres on Netflix on November 18.
