Ishaan Khatter: One has to accept failure and move on

Ishaan Khatter, the actor, acknowledges that he is affected by the box-office results of his films but doesn't let it bring him down. He is focusing on improving and taking on new projects, including his Hollywood debut. He believes in the growing recognition of Indian talent in the West and emphasizes the importance of accurate representation in films.

In the last few years, Ishaan Khatter has seen several ups and downs in his career, and the actor admits that he’s not completely detached from the whole box-office result of his films. However, he’s quick to clarify that he doesn’t take it to heart neither he gets bogged down by it.

At the moment, actor Ishaan Khatter is busy working on his Hollywood debut project, The Perfect Couple, which also stars Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber

“It takes a lot of hard work and energy to realise a story, and the hope is always for it to come to fruition and reach as wide an audience as possible. But alas, life is a series of ups and downs and you’ve got to accept success or failure and move on. I’d like to believe I can take them both in good spirit and focus on being better each time,” says Khatter, whose last outings including Khaali Peeli and Phone Bhoot failed to elicit expected response at the box office.

The 27-year-old, who hails from a filmy family (he’s the son of actors Rajesh Khattar and Neelima Azeem), continues, “I wouldn’t be presumptuous to claim that my film choices have made me better as an actor. That’s for the audience to decide. But, I have certainly tried to pick up where I left off each time and grow with every new undertaking.”

In fact, the Dhadak (2018) actor asserts that he has made peace with the fact that his film journey will be a mixed bag with hits and misses.

The actor, who entered the film industry with Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds (2017), is just focusing on his career in India, but at the same time, taking global strides also. At present, he is busy on his Hollywood debut project, The Perfect Couple, which also stars Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber. And he admits crossover is the way forward.

“The language of cinema has always been universal but there has never been such a strong foundation and initiative for crossover work as there is now and the first step is exchange of talent,” he says, stressing on the growing recognition for Indian talent in the West.

The actor goes on to add, “The recognition is great, but I don’t think it’s changing the narrative for Indian actors specifically but the film fraternity as a whole. I’m very happy for Guneet Monga for The Elephant Whisperers whom I have known for years and has always been very kind. RRR of course has been a global success and enjoyed across the board and across the world.’

Stressing on the importance of “correct and layered representation”, Ishaan says reduce stereotyping is not only the responsibility of the writer or creator “but also an actor who chooses to represent the written material”.