BABIL KHAN: THE EDGE OF INNOCENCE

Babil Khan is just one-film old but he has made each moment of his 25 years on this planet count. The son of late Irrfan Khan, Babil is also every bit a mumma's boy. But for him, his greatest mentor is life itself.

- ANANYA GHOSH

"Let everything happen to you Beauty and terror Just keep going No feeling is final" - Rainer Maria Rilke

I had first met this lanky boy with a mop of curls on his head about seven years ago. I was at their Versova home, which was still getting furnished, to interview Irrfan (lasting for a little over 6 hours, it happens to be the longest interview I have done so far, and probably the most interesting as the assignment required me to watch Irrfan's favourite movies with him!), and at that point, the father and son had seemed polar opposites. Irrfan was majestic, restrained, and had the aura that could instantly calm down even the most anxious person; when he smiled it settled in his eyes even after the remnants had otherwise left his face. Babil, on the other hand, seemed like a live wire. He had struck the room like a bolt of lightning shattering its pensive calm. His exams were over and he was like a ball of raw energy bouncing around. If Irrfan's was a soul of a meditating monk, Babil's seemed to be that of a bohemian hippie-the energy is different but they shared the same purity of soul and authenticity.