Ishaan Khatter on films, family and his favourite co-star
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 10, 2018)

Ishaan Khatter managed to impress even perfectionist Majid Majidi with his effortless acting in his debut film, Beyond the Clouds. As he gears up for the release of his second, more commercial Hindi film Dhadak, the actor admits that the offer from Karan Johar took him by surprise. Excerpts from an interview:

Karan Johar has said he spotted you on the Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa set when he was shooting with your brother Shahid Kapoor.
True. And because I’m so unassuming, I never imagined he’d consider me for a role in his film. But soon after I visited the Jhalak set and interacted with him briefly, bhai told me that KJo had asked him for my number.

Did he call?
He did. He’d seen some of my videos on social media and told me he’d like to have a sit-down and get to know me better. I visited his office a few times. During those meetings he tried to assess how serious I was about films.

You started out with a really difficult film, Majid Majidi’s sibling drama Beyond the Clouds. Was Dhadak easier?
Dhadak was equally challenging as certain characteristics made Madhukar different from the person I am. I’d say this film was tougher to do than my debut.

What was director Shashank Khaitan’s brief to you?
Shashank was on his way to a screening of Sairat and seeing me spontaneously told me that he wanted to make this film with me. He moved the location to Rajasthan to create a new film. This meant the cultural milieu changed too and shaped Madhukar’s personality. We had a lot of discussions on the script and concluded that I should play the character as a young, naive, unambitious boy born and brought up in Udaipur who hadn’t seen too much of the world and was seemingly content with life.

What was your prep like?
I was underweight when I started my meetings with Janhvi (Kapoor, co-star) and Shashank because of Beyond the Clouds and he told me he wanted a robust, khaata-peeta Rajasthani boy. So, I piled on a few kilos, got my ears pierced, lightened the colour of my hair and got myself some lenses. Then there was the Mewari dialect. We had to find the perfect balance between that and Hindi so the film didn’t become too colloquial. Janhvi and I joined Shashank on the recce twice, spending a lot of time in Udaipur and Jaipur, borrowing directly from our interactions with the locals.

Did Janhvi and you meet directly on the set?
We’d interacted a few times but grew close during the prep. She comes with light-hearted energy and makes everyone around cheerful. She’s a goofball but she loves acting and spends a lot of time thinking about her character.

You are known to be a good dancer. Did you get to flaunt your skills in this film?
There aren’t any conventional song situations, but I got to do a bit of choreography. It was important to dance like the character, not get carried away and make the steps look clean and practiced. “Zingaat” was already a widely loved song and the idea was to just enjoy it and be true to the moment.

Any tips from Shahid?
Bhai was aware that I was doing Dhadak even before he knew about Beyond the Clouds but we didn’t discuss it much. He’d liked Sairat and was waiting to see what perspective I’d bring to the adaptation. My mom (Neelima Azim) has been involved from the beginning. She was at the readings and look test, and came on the set a few times. I’ve had a lot of discussions about the character with her unlike my first film when I was totally isolated.

Karan has launched many actors. What’s your take on your mentor?
 He’s an incredible mentor with years of experience. The magnitude of the work he’s done and his understanding of cinema is amazing. He’s generous and gracious, contributes a lot and gives you his exclusive attention. He also has a great sense of humour.