Babil Khan slams Bollywood peers in emotional video; team issues clarification

A video of Babil Khan, in which he appears to be emotionally distressed, has been “widely misinterpreted and taken out of context”, the actor’s team said on Sunday (May 4).

In the official statement, which was also posted on Instagram by his mother-producer Sutapa Sikdar, his team further said the actor -- who has been vocal about his mental health struggles -- was having a difficult day.

Difficult days

“Over the past few years, Babil Khan has earned immense love and appreciation for his work, as well as for his openness about his mental health journey. Like anyone else, Babil is allowed to have difficult days — and this was one of them. We want to reassure all his well-wishers that he is safe and will be feeling better soon.”

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“That said, a video of Babil has been widely misinterpreted and taken out of context. In the clip, Babil was sincerely acknowledging a few of his peers whom he believes are making meaningful contributions to the evolving landscape of Indian cinema,” Babil’s team said in the statement.

In a series of purported video clips, Babil was seen crying inconsolably and calling Bollywood “the fakest place”. According to reports, the videos were posted on the “Qala” actor’s Instagram account.

Clips doing rounds

Those clips, however, are still doing the rounds on Reddit, a social news aggregation and forum social media platform.

In the statement, Babil’s team also urged media publications and the public to consider “the full context of his words rather than drawing conclusions from fragmented video clips”.

Earlier this week, Babil remembered his father, actor Irrfan Khan on his fifth death anniversary in an emotional social media post.

Clears the air

Meanwhile, in the evening, the actor returned to Instagram, where he addressed the controversy and said that the video was “extremely misinterpreted”.

Taking to his Instagram, Babil shared the post of actor Kubbra Sait where she had shared the official statement from his family regarding the matter. In the caption, Babil wrote, “Thank you so much (red heart emoticon), This video was extremely misinterpreted, I was trying to show support to (Instagram accounts of actors) Ananya Panday, Shanaya Kapoor, Gaurav Adarsh, Arjun Kapoor, Raghav Juyal, Arijit Singh.”

He also added, “I genuinely don't have the energy to indulge more but I do this as responsibility for my peers that I truly admire.” He also re-shared the Instagram stories of Raghav, and wrote, “Raghav Juyal, bhai you are my icon, my idol and my elder brother that I never had.”

Leaves fans worried

Earlier, his video that showed him crying and sharing unknown facts about his Bollywood peers had left his fans worried. He also deactivated his Instagram account shortly after the video went viral on the internet.

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In the video, Babil was seen weeping and slamming the Hindi film industry, openly calling out celebrities including Shanaya Kapoor, Ananya Panday, Arjun Kapoor, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Raghav Juyal, Adarsh Gourav, and singer Arijit Singh. He was heard saying, “Bollywood is so f**ked. Bollywood is so, so rude.”

The actor was most recently seen in “Log Out”, a ZEE5 cyber thriller that explores the dark side of social media fame.

(With agency inputs)