Ishaan Khatter says it was a conscious decision to ‘not be the shadow of anyone’ in Bollywood: ‘If you don’t love this, you can’t survive’

Ishaan admitted that in his place as an actor, he will never have full control over his projects, but at least he can decide what he wants to do. “I grew up in an atmosphere where I was cultivated into the arts,” he said, adding, “I don’t want to do anything half-heartedly. You can choose to do something, but it won’t sustain, especially in a profession like this, if you don’t love it. You see what we do from the wings, and it mostly paints a pretty picture, but it takes a lot just to make one film, let alone a good film. And it zaps you when it doesn’t give you that energy back. If you don’t love this, you can’t survive.”

Ishaan made an unconventional debut with the film Beyond the Clouds, directed by Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi. He followed it up with a more mainstream Bollywood debut, Dhadak. Ishaan has since appeared in the film Khaali Peeli, the stoner comedy Phone Bhoot, the Netflix series A Suitable Boy, and a cameo in the Hollywood film Don’t Look Up. He can currently be seen in Pippa, which was released on Prime Video today.