Relevance of an actor today dependent on social media, says Babil Khan

Mumbai: An actor’s relevance and ability to obtain work today depend on social media, says actor Babil Khan, who finds it challenging to walk the fine line between honesty and pretence.

The young actor's social media feed is full with fascinating tales about his late father Irrfan Khan and life lessons from his mother Sutapa, but Babil said he "struggles" to be honest in his expression on social networking sites.

"I'm struggling so much because I was brought up in a household where I got a phone when I was 16 or 17-year-old. I have no relation with phones and social media but we have to do certain things now. To live in the discipline of an actor, you have to understand honesty with oneself and with life.

"Like, how do you look at things in an honest way... Now your relevance is dependent on social media and your job as an actor is dependent on that relevance. It takes something away from your soul," the actor told PTI in an interview.

Babil, who made his debut with Anvita Dutt's "Qala", said he has this "spiritual and mental turmoil" within himself because he is torn between being honest and pretentious.

"It’s just that you know when you are pretending and lying and when you do so you feel a turmoil within yourself. That is a very spiritual and mental turmoil, and that is a tough thing to deal with, like ego management, the pleasing, you cannot say the truth to people because people might feel bad.

"So, all this creates anxiety and turmoil. An actor’s life now has become 10 percent acting, which you have to kill, you have to do it very well, and the 90 percent is … (pretence).” Babil is awaiting the release of his coming-of-age comedy drama, “Friday Night Plan”, which revolves around two unsupervised siblings and their misadventures.

The Netflix film is produced by Excel Entertainment and directed by first time director Vatsal Neelakantan, who has previously worked on projects such as “Raees”, “Inside Edge” and “Mirzapur” among others.

The actor said he could identify with some of the themes explored in “Friday Night Plan” even though his upbringing was different.

"I was not able to relate to it much. But the energy of youth is something that you have lived and experienced. For me it is not about the age. I had to figure out the way I speak and all that. But it was more about the story, he was trying to say something, it was like, ‘Let me encapsulate within me and try and express that’,” he said.

His co-star Medha Rana, who played the lead role in the web-series “London Files” before boarding this project, said as an Army kid, she moved to a lot of schools and that gave her some insights into her character.

"I was constantly shifting circles, which taught me a lot in life, enough to take the chance to play something that is far from my world but yet there were things that I could relate to, like the struggles that most of us go through, the undue pressure that we put on ourselves,” Rana said.

Actor Aadhya Anand said it was enjoyable for her to portray a character that was different from herself.

"I'm completely different from my character. When I read it, I felt it would be nice to have another personality, like to figure out different aspects and nuances,” she said.

Neelakantan drew heavily on his personal experiences with his brother, and friends, to create the story of his debut film.

“When I was writing it, I was drawing a lot from my own experiences, it is not that I wanted to make a film about teenagers. I was drawing upon my life, what I learnt growing up, my relationship with my brother, mother, and friends. Something came out of it organically and that shaped up into a script,” he said.

"Casting them (three actors) was part of the filmmaking process. I met them to make sure the energies match, that they understand the film, the way I want them to. Casting is important and challenging for this film because we needed young actors.”

"Friday Night Plan”, which also stars Juhi Chawla, and Ninad Kamat, will be released on Netflix on September 1.