Sutapa Sikdar hails single mothers as she challenges son Babil Khan to impress her: ‘I am the most difficult critic’

Sutapa Sikdar is excited for her son, Babil Khan, as he commences the shoot of The Railway Men, in which he stars along with R Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon and Divyenndu.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | December 11, 2021 09:01 PM IST

3 min read

Sutapa Sikdar informed that Babil Khan has started shooting for YRF series The Railway Men. (Photo: Babil Khan/Instagram)

Late actor Irrfan Khan’s son, Babil Khan, had announced his second project, The Railway Men, earlier this month. After he started shooting for the YRF series, his mother Sutapa Sikdar wrote in a Facebook post that while she is “mighty exhilarated” for her son, she will not be easily pleased because she has spent close to three decades with a legend like Irrfan.

In her Facebook post, she paid tribute to single mothers and went on to talk about the multiple challenges that Babil will have to achieve to be called a good actor.

“Sorry son, but sharing my world with a legend all my life (30 years, factually. Lifetime, emotionally. Eternity, spiritually) has got my standards very high. I don’t want to frighten you and overburden you, we have social media for that. I want to remind you, as baba said and rightly so, that I am the most difficult critic to please. So there is long list, and one must tick all the boxes before I pronounce them a good actor which will take you a long time,” she wrote. Sutapa added. “I know you are overwhelmed with the amazing cast of the series at the same time feel lucky to be able to learn from the best. But truly I happily put the second tick as I see you in the poster with seasoned actors, still just being there not trying extra or faking but actually looking at something to do with the premise of the show. Even if it’s just a poster,” she added.

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She concluded her note by wishing Babil ‘all the best’ in his attempt to earn the rest of the ticks and asked him to not be in a hurry. “All the best, give it your soul but don’t be in a hurry to get those right ticks because trying, failing and then getting it right is the trick. You can never hurry your father’s legacy,” she signed off.

The Railway Men is a tribute to the railway workers who were the unsung heroes of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, the world’s biggest man-made industrial disaster. The project was announced on the same day as the tragedy took place 37 years ago. The Railway Men is being directed by filmmaker Shiv Rawail.

Earlier in the day, Babil wrote a post about the kind of actor he aspires to be. Narrating an incident, Babil wrote, “You can become infamous, rich, powerful through your art but only in moments like this, when a stranger in the audience is led to instinctively reflect upon the way your expression has affected their soul, only now are you successful. If I act, and I can make you self-reflect or inspire a desire to dream within you, only then have I done my job.”