Babil Khan is back with his new tech thriller, Logout. The actor plays an Instagram influencer whose life turns upside down after a fan gets hold of his phone and all passwords. Ahead of the film’s release, Babil and the film’s creators sat down with HT for a chat about the genre and making the usually mild-mannered actor go all out for the role.
Logout writer and director about the film
Talking about the real-world inspiration for the setting, writer Biswapati Sarkar says, “The addiction was real. We could see our focus going away. We could not concentrate on projects, and we started noticing that it was probably due to the smartphone. Then we researched and realised it’s not just but millions of people.”
The film’s director, Amit Golani, says they consciously chose a relatable setting for the story. “We didn’t want it to be some futuristic technology. Also, we didn’t want it to be a hacker thing. There is no skill that the antagonist needs to do all this. It’s just a simple, everyday person who can turn your life upside down just by getting control of your phone,” he says.
On bringing Babil’s rage out
The trailer shows Babil’s character – Pratyush – getting increasingly frustrated and annoyed as an obsessed fan takes control of his life through his phone. A few scenes in the film involve Babil screaming in rage on camera. Talking about that, Biswapati quips, “For that, we had to speak to him. Lage thode se takes isme (It took a few takes).” Amit chimes in, “But that is where an actor’s craft comes in. When you are not what you are, that’s the opportunity to show what you can do. In the workshops, we also worked on those scenes. We were worried about those parts so we worked on it more to bring that out. Ultimately, by the time we went to shoot, we were very confident.”
Contrary to popular belief, Babil doesn’t find screaming or crying that challenging. “It is tougher for me to play mild-mannered. Anger and crying I can do easily. But that masti is the most difficult for me,” says the actor.
Logout also features Rasika Dugal, Nimisha Nair, and Gandharv Dewan in pivotal roles. Having already made waves on the international festival circuit, the Amit Golani film releases on Zee5 on April 18.
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