Shoojit Sircar on signing Babil for a film: ‘We did not want to detach after Irrfan Khan left’

Shoojit Sircar opened up about casting late actor Irrfan Khan’s son, Babil, in a film. “Babil is still quite young and he has a long way to go but somehow, it feels quite good that we are still in touch with Irrfan,” Shoojit said.

Late actor Irrfan Khan’s older son, Babil Khan, is yet to make his debut but has already signed his second project. While it is known that the film will be directed by Shoojit Sircar and produced by Ronnie Lahiri, no other details have been revealed yet.

Shoojit Sircar with Babil Khan and Ronnie Lahiri.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Shoojit opened up about working with Babil, and how it was their way of being ‘in touch’ with Irrfan. “Our whole thing was that we did not want to detach after Irrfan left. We just wanted to, so that we are still in touch… Babil is a young boy, we have seen him really small, when he was growing up, and Irrfan was always worried about him and what he was going to do. But now, we are in touch with him, we are going to work,” he said.

“Babil is still quite young and he has a long way to go but somehow, it feels quite good that we are still in touch with Irrfan,” he added.

Ronnie said that it was difficult to move on. “With Irrfan sir, it was more of a friend than just an actor who was a part of the film. We had worked with him, we were friends. I think on a personal level, human level, it hurt us more because he really wanted to do this film and we also knew that he could have done it. But fate had something else in store. So, it was a difficult decision, but then ultimately, we had to move on. Of course, we had a chat with him, he only encouraged us, ‘Move on, the film is an important film that one should make’,” he said.

Irrfan died in April last year after a two-year battle with a neuroendocrine tumour. He is survived by his wife Sutapa Sikdar and their two sons - Babil and Ayaan.