He’s turned 30 on November 1, and in the eight years of his acting career, already worked with an international filmmaker, and a film in his repertoire, Homebound, has been selected as India’s official Oscars entry this year. Ishaan Khatter’s eyes are set on more projects in the West, one hears.
Asked how much of his attention does the former command, he quips, “As much as it is here. For me, it’s always been a priority to go wherever the good work is. I’m not scared of pushing myself out of my comfort zone because it takes a lot of that, especially being an actor that is based out of here. It takes more work, it takes effort, but the world is becoming a smaller place and I think it’s a great time where the global spotlight is on India even in films.”
Having starred in projects such as Don’t Look Up and The Perfect Couple with actor Nicole Kidman, he adds, “I’m very proud that I was able to kind of break that glass ceiling with a character that was not written for an Indian. They had all kinds of guys going up for the part. So that’s what made it land very differently, and everybody took notice of that. There was not a single person who didn’t say like, ‘oh, this is a new way of representing a South Asian male. We’ve not seen that representation before.’ And it’s about time. So I want to double down on that, and I want to do parts that are just parts. To show them everything else that we have, and not just the kind of one tone template ‘My identity is that I am a brown kind of character’.”
{{/usCountry}}Having starred in projects such as Don’t Look Up and The Perfect Couple with actor Nicole Kidman, he adds, “I’m very proud that I was able to kind of break that glass ceiling with a character that was not written for an Indian. They had all kinds of guys going up for the part. So that’s what made it land very differently, and everybody took notice of that. There was not a single person who didn’t say like, ‘oh, this is a new way of representing a South Asian male. We’ve not seen that representation before.’ And it’s about time. So I want to double down on that, and I want to do parts that are just parts. To show them everything else that we have, and not just the kind of one tone template ‘My identity is that I am a brown kind of character’.”
{{/usCountry}}He emphasises that work back home will continue, “As far as being rooted is concerned, that’s who I am. So that to me is home. I have been working, and I will continue to, towards finding great films here for the audience and keep giving them surprises as an actor.”
As for hitting 30, he laughs, “I want to be optimistic about it because they say that 30s are like your 20s, but only you know yourself better and you have more money! In the first few years of your career, you are just figuring out who you are. And when you’re doing it in front of the cameras, it’s a whole another ball game.”