Ishaan Khatter made his acting debut with two films, the emotional drama Beyond the Clouds and the romantic feature Dhadak, in 2018 and was then seen in the crime-comedy Khali Peeli in 2020. His upcoming film Phone Bhoot, a horror-comedy with Katrina Kaif and Siddhant Chaturvedi, is set for a worldwide theatrical release on November 4.
In an exclusive conversation with DNA India, we asked the actor why he has been selective in choosing his projects since he has been seen in only three films and the web series A Suitable Boy in the last five years. Ishaan said, "Well, I started working in 2017, both the films were released in 2018 and then Covid happened as well. We started filming this movie 2 years ago, but I wouldn't brush that off, I have been selective. I think I was also discovering myself, as a performer as the audience was. I have a very tall order for myself, I have a high standard that I have set for myself and I want to keep pushing myself and growing as an actor."
The actor continued, "Initially, of course, I was a little overwhelmed with the influx of the offers and films, so I thought I needed to really pace myself so I just don't get carried away and take everything that comes my way. I certainly feel I give a piece to myself to everything that I do so I want to pick things that give me the values back that I want to carry for the rest of my life."
Ishaan added that he wanted to challenge himself as an actor when he took up Phone Bhoot as he added, "Then, sometimes of course you want to pick films that are entertaining like this film balanced it out for me, I have been doing a lot of intense dramatic characters and I was like you know what I have not done a comedy so that would be a challenge for me as an actor so I want to push myself into this space and see what comes out of it."
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"I was very happy to take Phonebooth at the right time, and then I have period war drama coming right after it, which helped me throw myself into a different space completely. I love that, I live for that. I am trying to now create the opportunities that I want for myself, and I am learning and I am growing, and I definitely want to do a lot more work", the actor concluded.
After Phone Bhoot, the actor will be seen in the war drama Pippa based on the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Mrunal Thakur, Priyanshu Painyuli, and Alia Bhatt's mother Soni Razdan also feature in the film. The film's teaser was launched on Independence Day, i.e. August 15 with the release date as December 2, though Ishaan states that Pippa has now been postponed.
