Sharing our vulnerabilities, insecurities with each other helped us bond: Ishaan Khatter talks about his prep with Homebound co-star Vishal Jethwa

After making a remarkable debut with Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds (2017), Ishaan appeared in leading roles in Dhadak (2018) and Phone Bhoot (2022). He also features in the web-series A Suitable Boy (2020) and The Royals (2025).

In this interview, Vishal and Ishaan talk about how they internalised their characters and built a rapport. Excerpts:

What was your process of entering the world of Homebound?

Ishaan: We are fortunate that Neeraj Sir pushed us to immerse ourselves in our characters. He encouraged us to live the character, not just portray it on screen. He asked us to understand the character we are essaying, feel it.

He spent three years writing the film. So, he had an answer to almost every question that we had. When he didn’t have one, he would say: ‘We should find it together’. He gave us reading material like Dr BR Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste and various other articles to understand the historical context. We underwent dialect training for about two months. We visited certain villages in Uttar Pradesh. We spent a lot of time just interacting with people, being there, and absorbing the sights and sounds.

Vishal: Since Neeraj sir had done a thorough homework, we just had to follow his process. He asked me to lose weight. Basically, he wanted us to lose muscles and look more like a person from rural areas. The next task was to internalise the characters. He wanted us to understand what challenges these two characters go through in their lives and how they would have led their lives.

For an actor, the biggest weapons are a good script and director. This combination is amazing when the director is also the writer.

The heartbeat of the film is the bond between Chandan and Shoaib. How did you achieve that?

Vishal: Neeraj sir had asked us to spend time together and learn about each other. So, we started meeting each other as Chandan and Shoaib. In the first meeting itself, we ended up speaking for nearly six hours about life while enjoying the view from Ishaan’s home.

Ishaan: Neeraj sir asked us to be vulnerable with each other and share our insecurities. Those conversations helped us bond. That also supported us through the film. Chandan and Shoaib don’t just share their triumphs with each other but also their vulnerable selves.

Your careers have an interesting trajectory. Did you have to do some unlearning?

Ishaan: That’s what we actors should be doing while playing a new character. It involves identifying the parts of a character which we connect with naturally. However, it’s the parts that one doesn’t fully understand that one needs to work towards.
Every film has its own tone, and pitch. But Homebound was more than just a film to us. It felt like we were working on something deeper. The idea was to entertain, engage and tell a story, but also provoke and steer the conversation in a nice direction.

Vishal: Every character and medium has different requirements. When I started doing films, I had to unlearn what I had followed while doing television shows. I wanted my performance to be impressive but the biggest challenge was not to have obvious ‘wow-moments’. The performance had to be controlled and appear effortless.

What was the biggest challenge you had to face during the making of Homebound?

Ishaan: For me, it was important that I make Shoaib’s spirit come alive. That’s also what broke me. When you experience his spirit, which is so strong and alive, breaking, it breaks you too.

Vishal: To remain in character during the film’s shooting, which I wanted to do at any cost, was tough.

Ishaan: What made it easier for us was that we shot almost chronologically and in one schedule.

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