Babil Khan reveals how his mother wrote 17 pages of criticism for Irrfan Khan's performance in 'Paan Singh Tomar'

Paan Singh Tomar that starred Irrfan Khan as the eponymous character and was directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia became a commercial and critical success back in 2012, and even won the late actor a National award for his incredibly honest and moving performance.

But the actor’s son Babil Khan recently revealed in an interview with Humans Of Bombay how his mother Sutapa Sikdar wrote 17 pages of criticism for Khan’s acting. He said, “How do I explain this? After Baba did Paan Singh Tomar, and he came back home. Mumma had 17 pages of criticism. So, I can’t stay in that room where mumma is watching my film.”

He added, “The first thing was an astronaut. But you don’t realise that actually you don’t want to be an astronaut as a kid you just want to explore. People used to tell me that you have to become an actor when you grow up because you know lineage, father, and legacy. And I used to rebel against that a lot. I remember vehemently telling people that I would not be an actor. But I think that was me just rebelling.”

On his father Irrfan Khan

But more than me, my father [Irrfan Khan] knew that this kid was born to be an artist. He knew that this boy was born to express. It took me a very long time to finally get around to accepting that I wanted to be an actor. First, it was rebelling and next, it was fear because, of course, I realised how good Baba [Irrfan Khan] was.

Khan was one of the greatest acting talents in the country that did many great films in his career. In an interview that has now gone viral, while speaking to Komal Nahta, he revealed how he curtailed his remuneration many times and was content in what was coming home.

On Paan Singh Tomar

Khan said, “I had to slash by fees by half for the film. The producers said they’d be able to make the film only if I reduce by remuneration by 50%. There have been many instances when I was paid only half. You get that understanding how much your producer will earn, how much your film will earn, so you quote your price accordingly.”