Babil Khan narrates his struggle to maintain relevance on social media: Your job as an actor is dependent on that

Babil Khan entered the Hindi film industry as the son of legendary Irrfan Khan. But starting with his first act in Qala, he proved his histrionics. In today’s time, being just an actor isn’t enough. You have to have a good presence on social media as well. For some, it comes naturally, but some struggle to keep up with it. Recently Babil admitted that he belongs to the latter.

Babil Khan on maintaining relevance on social media

Babil Khan has a great presence on Instagram and his content is quite unique and diverse. However, it is a struggle for the actor to keep up with it. In an interview with PTI, Babil said, “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.”

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The actor insists that today an actor’s job depends on social media. He added, “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.”

Babil on the affect of social media

Babil feels that to maintain a constant online presence, a certain sense of pretence comes in. And to maintain the balance between being honest and pretending, creates a ‘mental turmoil’ in him. He shared, “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).”

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The actor made an impressive debut in Qala last year with Triptii Dimri. Now, he is gearing up for the release of his next, Friday Night Plan with Juhi Chawla. The film releases on Netflix on September 1, 2023. Apart from that, Babil also has Yash Raj Films’ web series The Railway Men in the pipeline.

Also Read: Babil Khan reveals he isn’t getting many offers: I cannot choose and decide which medium I want to work on