‘SHAHID IS RELIEVED AND HAPPY’
Actor Ishaan Khatter recalls his star brother’s reaction to his acclaimed film debut
Iam well assured about who I am as a person,” says Ishaan Khatter about pursuing a career in Bollywood. The young actor says that there wasn’t a defined moment when he decided to be an actor; it was a natural progression of what he always liked doing.
“As far as I can remember, I’d dance around to entertain my family. Some of my early memories are of me doing nautanki at home and the fun activity became a passion,” says Ishaan, who grew up in a family of actors (mother Neelima Azeem; brother Shahid Kapoor), and is now debuting in Majid Majidi’s film, Beyond The Clouds.
Inherently drawn to acting, Ishaan knew that eventually he’d take the final step of entering films. He was also exposed to the world of cinema much earlier, ever since he began visiting Shahid’s movie sets. “I was aware of what I was exposed to. Obviously, I didn’t live through all the choices he made, but I was exposed to how a film is made. Simultaneously, I was watching a lot of his work,” he says.
It’s only more recently that he has begun “to understand the responsibilities of being a professional actor and a public figure”. Ishaan says, “Even before movies happened, it’s the art and the craft and the joy that I received from it, that appealed to me. And as I grew up, I started consuming more of cinema and delved deeper into it.” No surprise then that the 22-year-old chose an offbeat film over a regular commercial outing.
Talking about collaborating with Iranian filmmaker Majidi, he says, “Perhaps a lot of people don’t have the good fortune of getting a part that’s challenging. Two things can happen if you start with a film that’s layered and complex — you might choke and sink, or you’ll grow out of it. Somehow, I didn’t feel fear because I didn’t choose this part, it chose me. I wasn’t in a position to choose a Majid Majidi film.
“When he took my audition, he didn’t know that I come from a film family. And even if he did, it’d probably only hurt my chances, rather than give me an advantage. I’m blessed to receive the opportunity.”
This film got Ishaan the Best Actor award at the Turkish Film Festival last year. He won his brother’s appreciation, too. “Shahid was very happy. More than the things that he said, I could see it on his face that he was relieved. I felt a great satisfaction and warmth, as it’s my brother from whom I’ve learnt so much, and it’s like giving back,” says Ishaan, who has received “many words of wisdom” from Shahid. “He is the wise old man in our family
(laughs). Once in a while, he expresses his philosophy. I’m philosophical, too, but I prefer to listen. I talk about these things only to the people I’m close to,” signs off the new kid on the block.