The young actor, despite not being in showbiz for many years, has managed to carve a niche for himself in the industry.
Actor Ishaan Khatter made his debut in the Hindi film industry with Dhadak, a romantic drama released in 2028, and a remake of the Marathi film Sairat (2016), co-starring Janhvi Kapoor. While being a star kid – son of actors Neelima Azeem and Rajesh Khattar and half-brother of Shahid Kapoor, his debut Hindi film was marred with presumptions. However, despite not being a box office hit, the film got him all the praise and helped him carve a place for himself in the industry. Nonetheless, as someone who has starred in projects like A Suitable Boy and Beyond the Clouds, Ishaan has managed to impress the audience with his acting prowess.
On November 1, as the actor is celebrating his 29th birthday, let’s trace his journey in showbiz so far.
Do you know that Ishaan made his first screen appearance as a child in the 2005 film Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!? Well, yes. And the film even starred his half-brother Shahid Kapoor.
Moving ahead, his first acting role as an adult actor was Beyond the Clouds (2017), directed by Majid Majidi. The film featured him as Amir, a drug dealer, and premiered at the BFI London Film Festival. It was later released theatrically in 2018. Post that, he took on the lead role in Shashank Khaitan's Dhadak, which was a decent success at the box office.
In 2020, he went on to star in the British miniseries A Suitable Boy, which was Mira Nair's adaptation of Vikram Seth's novel of the same name. Interestingly, in the film, he was paired opposite Tabu. The six part-series aired on BBC One, and the portrayal of the older woman-young man romance was loved. That same year, he shared the screen space with Ananya Panday in the action film Khaali Peeli, which was released digitally on Zee Plex.
In 2022, Khatter went on to star alongside Katrina Kaif and Siddhant Chaturvedi in the comedy horror film Phone Bhoot, which left both the audience and the critics unimpressed.
In the war drama Pippa (2023), set during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he took on the real-life character of army commander Balram Singh Mehta. The project, which was earlier scheduled for a theatrical release, was finally released on Amazon Prime Video after much delays. The film couldn’t do wonders for Ishaan though.
In 2024, Khatter impressed everyone when he starred alongside an ensemble cast in The Perfect Couple, an American Netflix limited series based on Elin Hilderbrand's mystery novel of the same name. Helmed by Susanne Bier, the series featured Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson, Billy Howle, Meghann Fahy, Donna Lynne Champlin, Jack Reynor, Michael Beach, among others. Despite a short role, he was quite noticed in the project.
Moving ahead, he will be part of the upcoming Indian Netflix series, The Royals, wherein he will star opposite Bhumi Pednekar.
