Ishaan’s Perfect Opportunity

Ishaan Khatter is being hailed as the breakout star of the American mini-series The Perfect Couple. The actor shares screen space with Nicole Kidman, Liev Schrieber, Dakota Fanning and several others in the screen adaptation of Elin Hildernrand’s best-selling novel.

The Perfect Couple has won rave reviews for its soap operaesque whodunit narrative, and Ishaan’s social media is on fire! He acknowledges that he couldn’t have asked for more.

MEATY ROLE

The show is set against the backdrop of a wedding party that goes wrong after the maid-of-honour is found murdered. Ishaan plays the mysterious Shooter Dival, the best man, who also seems to have some history with the bride-to-be played by Eve Hewson. Unlike the blink-and-you-miss-it appearances Indian actors tend to have in international cinema, Ishaan has a prominent role in the narrative.

The actor says the fact that it wasn’t just token representation in the name of diversity was what thrilled him most about the project. “I am happy that this show is devoid of the trappings in the name of diversity, in the matter of casting. I was at the right place, at the right time, and was given the chance to bite into this character and make it my own. Even if I had a choice, Shooter would have been the character I was most drawn to. There is more to him than meets the eye, he is like an animal who has his moves, and there is an interesting arc to him.”

A DASH OF BOLLYWOOD

In this show the entire ensemble is dancing to a song called Criminal, and the choreography is very Bollywood. The sequence has gone viral, and netizens have been doing searches on the song and dance sequence. Ishaan, known for his smooth footwork in Hindi films, says it was fun. But though it came easily to him, the rest of his co-stars found the entire thing a bit absurd, he adds.

“For us, it is so much more natural, it's bread and butter for us. There was also talk of dropping the sequence since Nicole wasn’t too keen. It was Liev Schriber who was invested in it, practising the steps in his vanity van. Also, dance is very liberating, it brings people together, and despite all the hesitation that people went into it with, they all ended up enjoying themselves,” he shared.

LEARNING FROM SENIOR LEADING LADIES

As Shooter, most of Ishaan’s screen time is with Nicole Kidman’s Greer, the manipulative matriarch of the wealthy Winbury family. He is all praise for his iconic co-star. “She is amazing, and a wonderful person too. She is very interested in different cultures, and the ways of the world. She has these piercing hypnotic eyes, which I feel are her USP as an actor. And she is also a very generous co-actor.”

Ishaan is also grateful that he is one of the few young actors who have had the opportunity to share screen space with many celebrated female actors of Bollywood. He has starred with Tabu in The Suitable Boy and Katrina Kaif in Phone Booth, and will soon be seen with Zeenat Aman in The Royals. Asked which of them gave him fanboy moments, he said, “I had the most screen time with Tabu, so that was amazing. But I cherish working with all four of them equally; they have all in some way helped me shape my craft.”

He says the main difference between Hollywood and Bollywood is cultural.

Here we are free-flowing and easy, whereas things are greatly influenced by the American culture. There are pros and cons to both, but essentially at the end of the day, we are all doing the same thing, making movies.”

IN IT FOR LIFE

Ishaan who made his film debut with Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds, started out in Bollywood with Dhadak opposite Janhvi Kapoor in 2018. Though lauded for his acting chops, box office success evaded him in films such as Phone Booth and Pippa. Asked if he found more scope in terms of choices in the OTT space, the actor says he has no complaints. “I have been lucky to have these opportunities, and I have never worked with the same team twice. Of course, when you do an international project it becomes way more distinctive in your filmography. This is also a field of independent creative minds, people have different ways of working, which has made me more adaptive as a performer. I don’t want to be the flavour of the season, I’m in it for the long haul, and want to keep surprising people.”

KEEP IT NATURAL

The Hindi film industry is grappling with a box office slump. Ishaan feels, “Make good stuff. People need to put their money where their mouths are and stop trying to predetermine what works and what doesn’t. There needs to be sincerity and intention. Get good people who know what they are doing together. We need to refocus on who we are as a people and tell stories which come naturally and organically to us. This is the reason why South Indian films are thriving in the theatres — they have a very strong sense of grounding, and of their culture, and that's what people relate to.”