Actor Babil considers himself a lifelong student of acting, guided by two mentors: filmmaker Shoojit Sircar and acting coach Rachit Singh. On Teacher's Day, the young actor explains the role these two mentors have had in shaping his mindset.
“Shoojit da and I have been trying to work together for quite some time now. Even in that struggle to find the right subject and the right time, he taught me to trust life,” shares the 28-year-old.
In learning to trust the process, Babil also discovered the importance of embracing the journey. “All this while, I was chasing outcomes when I should have been living the struggle itself for what it is, and developing my instinct through it while balancing that with rigorous practice of the craft,” he says.
These lessons, he believes, came from having the right teachers. “The difference between a good and a bad teacher can be whether the student lives their life or merely survives it,” says the actor, who made his debut with Qala (2022) and is now preparing for his foray into Malayalam cinema.
Shoojit Sircar on guiding Babil
{{/usCountry}}These lessons, he believes, came from having the right teachers. “The difference between a good and a bad teacher can be whether the student lives their life or merely survives it,” says the actor, who made his debut with Qala (2022) and is now preparing for his foray into Malayalam cinema.
Shoojit Sircar on guiding Babil
{{/usCountry}}Shoojit Sircar says there was a lot of expectation from Babil since he is the late actor Irrfan’s son.
“But it’s wrong. He was just figuring out his way and the world was expecting him to deliver. That’s the worst scenario for anyone. I just tried to help him out of this trap. Whatever course correction he is doing, it’s purely his conviction for his art. He is still a student and we should give him that chance,” he insists, adding that Babil’s biggest strength is “his surety that he wanted to become an actor”.
Rachit Singh's role in Babil's career
Speaking about his other pillar of strength, Babil says, “Rachit sir and I have been working intricately on surrender and awareness for six years. His workshops changed my life and perspective, and showed me how to offer my throat to life and be fearless about it. The confidence I have today in my skills as an actor and a human being stems largely from paaji’s workshops and friendship.”
Talking about an important moment with Rachit, Babil shares, “I think one moment that I can say without worrying is from paji’s workshops, especially the first one when I was trying to quit midway desperately afraid of failing and Rachit paji would call me incessantly and do whatever it takes which included literally dragging me out of bed and into the workshop to perform, I would usually perform well on these days but performing well wasn’t what he was trying to instil, it was confrontation with failure.”
He adds, “ He was trying to tell me that it doesn’t matter whether I fail or succeed, it matters that I show up. Thank you so much, and I’m forever grateful for you Rachit sir!”