Star in the making...

Even before the release of his first film, Ishaan Khatter has become a popular name among the cinema buffs. The confidence, positivity, and perseverance that this young boy holds within, proves that he is a star material. Khatter, who was recently in the Capital to promote his upcoming movie Beyond the Clouds, spoke about his experience working in Majid Majidi's directorial, response of his brother Shahid Kapoor to his performance in the film and a lot more. Here are few excerpts:

It was quite an interesting moment in my life. I received a call from the casting director of the film when I was in the grocery store and he asked me to meet him. Shortly after this call, I went to his office where he told that there is a film which he wants to talk to me about and Majid Majidi will be directing the project. I was quite awestruck.

No, I didn't. Because I had worked with him previously, I knew him well. He is not the sort of person who would call you to play a prank. Anyway... he briefed me about the movie and said that he wanted me to meet the director. Majid sir had seen my pictures before. He thought my face was fitting for the part, yet he wanted to meet me personally. My encounter with him was very brief where he asked quite basic questions. But I guess he deduced what he needed to from my simple answers. After having a discussion with his team, he called me back asking for a shoot, which actually was supposed to be the audition for this movie. I was given a very small brief of the character. He informed me, 'there will be two scenes of this nature in the film, and I want you to do this. The rest of it can be improvised later.'

Thereafter, we went out to live locations and shot some footage. The entire shoot was meant to be edited to make it short and more presentable, but Majidi sir ended up seeing the entire fifty-minute footage. He saw all of it and said LOCK HIM.

Well, I think we spoke about everything that we could in the duration that we had. We were spending a lot of time together. The biggest learning that I received from him was, while everything is going to catch up with you (responsibilities as an actor) it is very important to retain your values and to strive to be a better person. That was my first conversation with him.

I think, all his stories reflect the values he has and the person he is. Every movie that he made is extremely humanistic and soulful. And so being in tune with him obviously helped me play this character better and give him what he wanted. I feel we are like-minded people. So, it only brought me closer to him. It made our tuning more synchronized.

I wouldn't use the word tough but it was physically difficult. One of the physical preparation was to lose weight because he wanted me to look malnourished and scrawny. It was difficult because there was little time to achieve that. It was physically exhausting and took a toll on my body. But beyond that, the part was very well defined on the paper and hence became easy for me. But of course, because the character is very complex, understanding it in order to fully imbibe the personality added to my work.

He has always been very supportive. Bhai (Shahid), I remember, saw the movie at a private screening. He was very curious as he hadn't come to the set and had no idea about what we were making. So, he saw the film in its entirety. He was immensely relieved as I could see. He was gleefully happy. He was very comfortable. He was yawning, smiling and hugging me.

...and then he summoned me over to his house. He was like 'come! We need to talk'. Bhai loved the movie a lot. He didn't say much but his behaviour reflected his feelings. And honestly, it was a very satisfying for me as a younger brother.

It's important to understand that I am a first-time actor but he (Majid Majidi) was gracious enough to listen to my opinions very often. Most of my inputs as an actor were to do with my character and its language. I tried to understand the character. I tried to spend as much time as I could in the locations this boy would have grown up in. I used to roam around, exploring places, interacting with locals and getting a better idea of everything. Also, I was fortunate enough to have cast members to help me out. We would often converse about the lives of people in those areas. One of them, whose name is Akash, had been through quite a similar phase. His trajectory has been similar to my character. To know him as a person helped me in understanding Amir (Ishaan's character) better.

Well, for that, I have to wait for people to see the film and draw their conclusion. I don't know if people will expect those things of me or not. I would imagine that people would want a certain quality of work to be repeated and outdone, and I will try my best to meet their expectations. That's how one grows as an actor or artist and that's what I will strive for. So, I don't really fear anything as such.