Ma, I’d Give It All For You: Babil Vows To Stand Up For Family Post Dad Irrfan’s Demise

In remembrance of late actor Irrfan Khan, following his demise in April 2020, his son Babil hasn’t shied away from speaking up on social media time and again. From talking about “hunks with six-pack abs” defeating his dad at the box office to sharing different snippets of Irrfan’s life in throwback pictures, he has been very vocal on Instagram.

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You know one of the most important things my father taught me as a student of cinema? Before I went to film school, he warned me that I’ll have to prove my self as Bollywood is seldom respected in world cinema and at these moments I must inform about the indian cinema that’s beyond our controlled Bollywood. Unfortunately, it did happen. Bollywood was not respected, no awareness of 60’s – 90’s Indian cinema or credibility of opinion. There was literally one single lecture in the world cinema segment about indian cinema called ‘Bollywood and Beyond’, that too gone through in a class full of chuckles. it was tough to even get a sensible conversation about the real Indian cinema of Satyajit Ray and K.Asif going. You know why that is? Because we, as the Indian audience, refused to evolve. My father gave his life trying to elevate the art of acting in the adverse conditions of noughties Bollywood and alas, for almost all of his journey, was defeated in the box office by hunks with six pack abs delivering theatrical one-liners and defying the laws of physics and reality, photoshopped item songs, just blatant sexism and same-old conventional representations of patriarchy (and you must understand, to be defeated at the box office means that majority of the investment in Bollywood would be going to the winners, engulfing us in a vicious circle). Because we as an audience wanted that, we enjoyed it, all we sought was entertainment and safety of thought, so afraid to have our delicate illusion of reality shattered, so unaccepting of any shift in perception. All effort to explore the potential of cinema and its implications on humanity and existentialism was at best kept by the sidelines. Now there is a change, a new fragrance in the wind. A new youth, searching for a new meaning. We must stand our ground, not let this thirst for a deeper meaning be repressed again. A strange feeling beset when Kalki was trolled for looking like a boy when she cut her hair short, that is pure abolishment of potential. (Although I resent that Sushant’s demise has now become a fluster of political debates, but if a positive change is manifesting, in the way of the Taoist, we embrace it.)

A post shared by Babil Khan (@babil.i.k) on Jul 8, 2020 at 12:42am PDT

He has now posted a heartfelt poem along with a few family pictures in which he talks not only about dealing with immense loss and grief but also the promise of standing up for his family in the hour of need. Check out the post below:-

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5 years too much, And now you’re a stranger 5 years in love, Pickin straws out the haystack Flicking through the picket pages Of the books I never read through. And that’s just one half of it The other half is you, Gleaming through the wicked winter moon, I wish I could fit in your shoes. You have gone so far away. And I’m always just a little too late. Plucking the strings of my sitar to soothe, These Monday morning blues And I carried on like the wayward son, In the wayward sun, but I found myself roaming the wastelands. I was high, when I witnessed my mother cry. I might never win. For, never will forget me, the unforgivable sin. Blood on her lips, crippled my heart. Pierced my soul like an adamant dart. Ma, my ma, tell me you love me too. Ma, my ma, I would give it all for you. (Yo bro, u know I love you more than life itself. ) @sikdarsutapa

A post shared by Babil Khan (@babil.i.k) on Jul 14, 2020 at 3:59pm PDT

In the first black and white photo of the carousel post, we see Irrfan on what seems to be a film set, whispering something to his wife Sutapa in her ear. The rest of the two photos are of Babil with his sibling Ayan. He ended the poem on an emotional note saying, “Ma, my ma, tell me you love me too. Ma, my ma, I would give it all for you. (Yo bro, u know I love you more than life itself.)”

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