ISHAAN STILL RESTLESS AND ‘RARING TO GO’

Birthday boy Ishaan Khatter says others, not he, have changed since his big debut

Last year, when Ishaan Khatter turned 22, his first film was yet to be released. But now, the general feeling must be that after his big-ticket film debut (Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds, followed by Dhadak, co-starring Janhvi Kapoor), and standing at the threshold of stardom, the young actor’s life is completely different. But Ishaan doesn’t think so.

“Honestly speaking, what’s changed has been actually for the better. But I feel the change has been more in other people than [in] me. Fundamentally, I don’t think much has changed in me. I’m still restless and raring to go (smiles). Even now, I’m most centred when I’m at work. But yes, I own up to more responsibilities now,” says Ishaan, who turns 23 today.

Now that his much-talkedabout debut is done with, we ask Ishaan if he feels lighter or more pressured due to the higher expectations etc. and he replies, “More than anything else, I feel satisfied and blessed to have worked on two films this year. As an artist, I cherish those experiences a lot and now, I’m really looking forward even more keenly to what lies ahead in my career.”

One thing that Ishaan has always witnessed from close quarters is constant media attention and limelight, thanks to his star brother, Shahid Kapoor. So, is he completely used to it by now? “Yes and no. I’m really not sure about that,” he says with a laugh. “To be honest, I wouldn’t ever want to get used to it. Instead, I’d rather be pleasantly surprised without getting disoriented.”

Talking of films, his outand-out Bollywood debut with Dhadak, happened after Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds, which was more like world cinema, though the milieu was Mumbai. Did that experience come in handy when he started work on his second acting venture? “Of course, it helped,” says Ishaan, “and in a way that perhaps even I don’t understand. Beyond the Clouds will always be one of the most important experiences of my life because it really set a tone of my craft as an actor. I think I entered the Dhadak world with a certain momentum.” At the same time, the actor was “as excited and unassuming” about Dhadak as he was when working with Majidi, who has been an Oscar nominee.

PHOTO: SHANKAR NARAYAN/HT Actor Ishaan Khatter turns 23 today