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Babil Khan opens up about the viral apology video, trolling, and how anxiety shaped his reaction.
Babil Khan breaks silence on viral apology video: “That was anxiety. Some memes hurt me.”
Babil Khan, son of the late Irrfan Khan, has often stood out in the public eye—not just for his talent, but also for his vulnerability. Last year, a video of him repeatedly apologizing to a woman after accidentally photo-bombing her went viral, sparking a range of reactions online. While some applauded his humility, others mocked him for being “too nice” or “pretentious.”
Now, Babil is addressing the moment head-on. In an interview with Mid-day, the Qala actor opened up about the backlash he received and what was really going on beneath the surface. “That ‘sorry sorry sorry’ was me being anxious,” he explained. “Whatever it became was a beast of its own. Some particular memes hurt me. I sat with [the feeling],” he said, with his characteristic honesty.
Despite the trolling, Babil said it didn’t shake his self-trust. Instead, he turned inward—spending time reading, diving, and making music. He also chose to step away from the spotlight for a while. “There were things I needed to work on within myself,” he said, adding that the decision wasn’t made out of bitterness but personal growth.
Reflecting on his evolution, Babil shared, “I thought there has to be a balance between the job of a celebrity, that of an actor, and who you are as a human being. You have to find bridges between all of them.” That introspection also led him to question the traditional expectations of masculinity.
Babil believes it’s time to redefine what it means to be a man. “You can be the most macho man and still be respectful,” he said, pushing back against outdated ideas of alpha male behavior.
His upcoming film Logout feels like a natural next step in this journey. In the Zee5 cyber-thriller, releasing April 18, 2025, Babil plays an influencer addicted to external validation—a role he says challenged his perspective on social media. “I’m not an avid user, but I took this role to understand why people give up their self-worth for the approval of people they don’t even know.”
Directed by Amit Golani, Logout aims to explore the psychological cost of digital dependency—and Babil seems ready to tackle it, bringing the same emotional depth and introspection that have already set him apart in the industry.