ISHAAN KHATTER

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<h1 class="centre">I’d describe Ishaan Khatter’s Bandstand flat as warmly minimalist with a touch of fuckboi. A couple of those Jeanneret-inspired chairs that everyone has, a neutral couch, a curved, swooping lamp; but also an odd, colourful wooden cabinet, a crochet swing in one corner, a glass holder filled with beer bottle tops, a framed print of Rudyard Kipling’s If on the wall. There are books, so let’s look at them. Murakami’s Men Without Women, Lucy Bolton’s Film And The Female Consciousness, David Deida’s The Way of the Superior Man. A curiosity for the gender experience, then. Knut Hamsun’s Growth of The Soil and Dean Liz’s A Thousand Paths to Mindfulness. A thinking fellow, yes. Some Shakespeare, Manto and Rumi, Ray’s Apu Trilogy and the final flourish, Nirmal Verma’s Teen Ekant — in the Hindi. Called it.</h1>

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<h1 class="left">Ishaan is running a few minutes late for our chat, but graciously said I could wait at his, where “you’ll be greeted by my Man Friday Raj and an overcast sunset.” This is accurate. His living room is all window on one wall, facing an expanse of sea. Raj brings me a glass of tepid water and flings the window open. I take this to mean the air-conditioning will not be switched on. Crows circle overhead, grey sea stretches out before me. It’s the dream Bombay view. I am covered in a film of sweat.</h1>

<h1 class="left">This is not just because it is as muggy as always, but also because a gust of wind from the open window has dramatically blown open one of Ishaan’s notebooks to a handwritten page from 2016. It’s just sitting there spilling its guts out, and I’m having a moral conundrum, an ethical dilemma even. I put to you that it is impossible to be a writer and not be nosy. We are psychopathically beset with curiosity. So after a few minutes of hopping forward and back, forward and back like some sort of deranged chicken, I tell myself that reading one page of someone’s personal journal is okay, right? Right??? I’ll only read the page that’s open and I won’t even touch the thing. Just one page. No one has to know.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">I mean I’m gonna tell everyone.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">I’m a bad person. And you know what? I’m okay with it. </h1>

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<h1 class="right">“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long,” Ishaan says, walking in, and I am struck once more by how much physically smaller actors are in real life than on screen. He is very handsome and very young, with an open, easy energy and big, beautiful eyes. He has the kind of face that lights up when a camera is trained on it, and betrays an alluring depth that is unusual for his generation of actors. “Not at all,” I reply, “It gave me a chance to snoop.” Pure panic shoots across his features, but briefly.</h1>

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<h1 class="centre">I remind him that he had offered to make me coffee. It’s too late in the evening for him to have any but he confesses that he loves making it almost more than drinking it. “You might as well come inside since you’ve already snooped,” he says, going into the kitchen. The walls of his corridor are filled with old movie posters. Oh he’s serious about coffee, “I’m a snob.” He sprays the beans and grinds them by hand while telling me about his day thus far, makes an espresso while we discuss a common friend, froths some almond milk and then fashions some goddamn latte art. It feels like a glimpse of the care he puts into things. The coffee is delicious. </h1>

<h1 class="centre">We are sitting on opposite ends of the couch, and he has fixed me with a steady stare and a slight smile. It’s charming. </h1>

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<h1 class="left">AS: What’s your vice, Ishaan? You don’t do substances or drink, so what do you do? Dance?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: Kinda. You dance to get out of your body, you know, not to be in it. I really enjoy it and I can lose myself in it. So I do find... I don't want to say a high, but I do find a centering in dancing, a sense of self. I know that's a boring answer, but it's honest.</h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: You’ve never been high?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: I mean I am curious and I’ve explored a little, but no, not really. I’ve not even been drunk, I don't know the feeling. </h1>

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<h1 class="right">AS: How is your sense of self? Are you happy with who you are? </h1>

<h1 class="right">IK: I sleep well at night. I have a good sense of my priorities, my loyalties. I don't worry too much about what people think. There's always a self-questioning, that's very important to me. I used to be hard on myself but I'm getting better at that. </h1>

<h1 class="right">AS: Are you happy with how your career is going?</h1>

<h1 class="right">IK: Yeah, the stakes are very high for me. I think I have a big appetite and I'm ambitious, but I'm happy with the opportunities I’ve had, there's been some good work and I get a lot of unexpected love from my audiences. I also understand that it's extremely important to be perceived to be successful. I’ve learnt that. </h1>

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<h1 class="centre">AS: What does acting do for you?</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: Acting is very cathartic. Truthfully expressing yourself is hard, but it's addictive. You also gain a lot of perspective because the whole thing relies on the act of empathy. It gives you different perspectives and then you realize that in the scheme of things, your opinion is rather small. Which is also freeing, in a way. </h1>

<h1 class="centre">AS: Are you going to continue choosing a mix of films? Is there one genre you enjoy more than others?</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: I'm pretty agnostic when it comes to genre. As far as stories go, to me it's more about the conviction of the storyteller; the tone could be anything. Yes, commercial cinema is important career-wise — film is the common man's art, right? It's that medium. So you want to reach as wide as you can. I'm definitely looking to do more commercial films that are in my sensibility so that I’m not being inauthentic. It shouldn’t feel counterintuitive.</h1>

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<h1 class="left">AS: You’ve said before that you’re not chasing fame, that you want to develop your craft.</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: Yeah I would have made very different choices otherwise. For me it wasn't like, how many people will see this film? It was more, what can I do? How good can I be? How much ground can I cover? And honestly, it wasn't a thought-out decision. It was instinctive.</h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: You're not a star yet. Does that bother you? </h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: (A little defensively) Honestly, different people have different interpretations of what a star is. I've met people, and I can say this very neutrally, I've met people who very convincingly call me a star. And I've met people, like you, who don’t. I feel like I have a strong, objective understanding of where I am.</h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: What is stardom?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: A connection with the audience. When they connect to who you are beyond just the character that you're playing. I know this might be idealistic, but I would rather that not be fabricated. So maybe it's a longer road, a longer journey for me.</h1>

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<h1 class="centre">IK: I think so. </h1>

<h1 class="right">IK: Fuck, this is loaded. </h1>

<h1 class="right">AS: Welcome to dirty magazine. </h1>

<h1 class="right">IK: (Laughs) I definitely feel a sense of responsibility towards my loved ones and towards myself. I'm mostly able to be above my impulses when it counts. I'm able to provide a sense of security to myself and to others. So yes, I think I’m a man.</h1>

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<h1 class="centre">AS: How has having a single mother shaped you?</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: Oh, completely. I don't have some theoretical sense of respect for women, it’s inbuilt. My closest relationship in my life is my mother, and she's an incredibly strong woman. Like she's kind of unbelievable, you know. </h1>

<h1 class="centre">AS: You idolise her.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: I have a huge amount of respect for her and the person she chooses to be despite the life she's had, the pitfalls she's seen, the lows. But I don't have a blind reverence for her, I can see her as a human being.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">AS: Are you hyper independent? </h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: Yeah, my mom has told me this as an observation about me. I think I've kind of always been that person a little bit. Also, maybe it's the way that my brother [Shahid] and I were raised or her family's values. I don't know what it is, but yes I think I am.</h1>

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<h1 class="left">AS: How’s your mental health doing?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: I have very obsessive tendencies and an addictive personality, which is why I have to be careful with everything that I do. I’m not an anxious person but I can get hyperfixated on things. </h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: Ever been in therapy?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: No, I haven’t. But I introspect a lot about my childhood. I'm decoding it every day but at the same time I’m farther and farther away from it every day? So it’s challenging. I also discovered that I have a tendency, a pattern of putting others before myself and that's something I've done a lot of self-work on.</h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: Are you a thinker?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: I am an overthinker but I don't always voice my thoughts. I have a lot of them. Maybe I should write. I love notebooks, I buy a lot of them and make random notes.</h1>

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<h1 class="right">AS: Do you journal? (My face completely blank)</h1>

<h1 class="right">IK: Very haphazardly. I have a lot of notebooks lying around that you'll find notes in at random (his eyes flicker to the one that betrayed him). When I really feel like an emotion is very potent and is bursting out of me, I sit down and just write. I find that I'm able to word it pretty vividly (can confirm) so maybe I should write more.</h1>

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<h1 class="centre">AS: How long have you lived in this flat?</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: Two years now. I've moved 17 times, this is the 18^th house I’ve lived in. But it’s my first time alone. When I was 16 we moved to Cozy Apartments in Yari Road, which my brother was able to buy for us, so my mom and I lived there for 10 years. The lockdowns happened in that house and it was a small place, like apartments in Bombay are. It was my mom, me, two other senior people and two cats in there. It had started feeling like a cage to me. Maybe that's why when I came here and saw the sea I was like, this is all I need. </h1>

<h1 class="centre">AS: Moving 17 times? That’s rough.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: Yeah I mean I was never miserable or anything and I don't like to talk about it, but I've seen my share. Abundance was not a thing I saw until very recently, contrary to what people might imagine. And there's a lot of imagination out there. </h1>

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<h1 class="left">AS: Do you like living alone?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: I do. I miss company sometimes but for the first time in my life, I like being at home. </h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: Do you get lonely?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: I think every artist feels an inherent sense of loneliness.</h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: What kind of boyfriend are you? </h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: I'm gonna call my girlfriend and ask her. </h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: Look if I say I'm a mediocre boyfriend you'll know I'm lying. </h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: Ohoho.</h1>

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<h1 class="centre">IK: I think I'm a good partner. It’s not that I don't have my flaws, I think I’ve been able to work on them from previous relationships and get better. My biggest flaw perhaps is being overly emotional.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: Because emotions are fragile, and when you function from pure emotion it's easy to create a ripple effect you can’t control. I get attached and then overextend myself, and then you're not only doing a disservice to yourself but also to your partner, because often that can set a dynamic that is not healthy.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">AS: Does that happen often?</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: It used to, it was a recurring thing. Now I think I've found a balance. I'm not saying you have to be rational about everything but you have to learn to not be reactive, but be responsive. I have to credit this solely to someone special in my life.</h1>

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<h1 class="left">AS: Hard launch when?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: I like guarding my private life and I'll keep it that way, so no hard launches. I've been in relationships with actresses — actors (he corrects himself) — and I've been in a relationship with someone who is not as established as me so I'm very aware of how it affects the women I’m with. But you can't control where you're gonna be seen, where you're gonna be photographed, when it's gonna come out, how it's gonna come out, what people are gonna say… so I’m a bit protective. </h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: What kind of lover are you?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: Hopefully a good one. I think my love language is definitely physical touch, but thoughtful gestures and listening are very important to me. We're all in the digital epidemic so we all have that ‘put your fucking phone down and listen to me, look into my eyes bitch boy.’ We're looking at screens more than we're looking into people's eyes.</h1>

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<h1 class="centre">AS: You have very pretty eyes.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: Thank you, thank you. You have a very pretty smile. I’m not just saying that as a trade-off but since we're doing this now…</h1>

<h1 class="centre">AS: So the sensitive, caring kind of lover.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: I sense sarcasm.</h1>

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<h1 class="left">AS: Never. Where’s the bad boy in you? </h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: Unfortunately you’ve met me at a time and a phase in my life when I’m done being toxic.</h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: Are you a very sexual person?</h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: Do you feel sometimes that it can be your undoing?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: No, I think it's largely positive. It's a form of energy and if you can harness it, it's all good. I think it's a reflection of your lust for life. I'm definitely adventurous, and that translates into my sexuality. It's a big part of who I am. </h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: Adventurous, huh?</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: Look, fortunately or unfortunately I'm definitely heterosexual. So that's one thing. But I'm definitely experimental in… other ways.</h1>

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<h1 class="right">AS: Do you ever feel misunderstood?</h1>

<h1 class="right">AS: Often. </h1>

<h1 class="right">IK: Which is why communication has become more important to me. I’m also in no hurry for people to really know me, you know? It's more important for me to know myself. It's very easy to project a façade.

<h1 class="right">AS: Yeah, also you're an actor.</h1>

<h1 class="right">IK: Exactly. You start to believe your own mythology and then it’s all over. </h1>

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<h1 class="centre">AS: I saw the trailer for The Perfect Couple. You look hot.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: Thanks, I love being objectified.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">AS: In your thirst trap era. </h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: I mean, you asked me if I'm a man now, right?</h1>

<h1 class="centre">AS: Okay, 28. How are you growing into your 30s?</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: I feel like I back myself more, I'm on my own team now. I like myself. I'm like, you know what? You work hard, you’re a good kid, you deserve it. So go for things and don't fucking hold back. I want to realize my true potential as an artist and as an actor. And as a fucking star. You can quote me on that.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: But I also think of having a family, kids. I'm simple like that. I hopefully want to do it once, one and done. I do believe you can have one partner, be monogamous. </h1>

<h1 class="centre">AS: How unfashionable of you.</h1>

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<h1 class="left">IK: I've had my fair share of experiences in my 20s, but I feel the need to respect the sacredness of the thought and the institution. Not in a societal sense, but in a personal way. Also, that would be lovely, right? </h1>

<h1 class="left">AS: It would.</h1>

<h1 class="left">IK: Like if you find someone. So whenever I've felt real connection in my life, genuine connection that’s more than just chemistry and comfort, I would like to be idealistic and think that maybe I can, you know, hold on to it. If I do it, I want to do it with that sense of abandon and that sense of belief.</h1>

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<h1 class="centre">IK: Yeah, love is a big part of my life. I think I'm always in love.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">AS: Don't give those ones. </h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: Okay, okay, I am definitely in love. In many ways.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: (Laughs) Yeah, I'm in love. </h1>

<h1 class="centre">IK: Yeah. I’m leaving it at that.</h1>

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<h1 class="centre">Creative Director: Kshitij Kankaria </h1>
<h1 class="centre">Photographer: Rid Burman </h1>
<h1 class="centre">Set Designer: Risha Shetty </h1>
<h1 class="centre">Stylist: Sanoori Jain </h1>
<h1 class="centre">Makeup Artist: Sandhya Shekar </h1>
<h1 class="centre">Hair Artist: Pratik Gaikwad (Team Aalim Hakim)</h1>
<h1 class="centre">Photo Assitant: Deepak Bhagat and Godwyn Cabral </h1>
<h1 class="centre">Body Makeup Artist: Vivek Upadhyay</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Managing Editor: Anurag Sharma</h1>
<h1 class="centre">Art Director: Akansha Kukreja</h1>
<h1 class="centre">Editorial Coordinator: Kaushek Haldar</h1>
<h1 class="centre">Producer: Imran Khatri Productions & Aaliyah Ladhani</h1>
<h1 class="centre">Artist Management: Aishwarya Narayanmoorthy (Matrix)</h1>
<h1 class="centre">Artist PR: Trisha Ashar (Jio Creative Labs)</h1>

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<h1 class="full">I’d describe Ishaan Khatter’s Bandstand flat as warmly minimalist with a touch of fuckboi. A couple of those Jeanneret-inspired chairs that everyone has, a neutral couch, a curved, swooping lamp; but also an odd, colourful wooden cabinet, a crochet swing in one corner, a glass holder filled with beer bottle tops, a framed print of Rudyard Kipling’s If on the wall. There are books, so let’s look at them. Murakami’s Men Without Women, Lucy Bolton’s Film And The Female Consciousness, David Deida’s The Way of the Superior Man. A curiosity for the gender experience, then. Knut Hamsun’s Growth of The Soil and Dean Liz’s A Thousand Paths to Mindfulness. A thinking fellow, yes. Some Shakespeare, Manto and Rumi, Ray’s Apu Trilogy and the final flourish, Nirmal Verma’s Teen Ekant — in the Hindi. Called it.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">Ishaan is running a few minutes late for our chat, but graciously said I could wait at his, where “you’ll be greeted by my Man Friday Raj and an overcast sunset.” This is accurate. His living room is all window on one wall, facing an expanse of sea. Raj brings me a glass of tepid water and flings the window open. I take this to mean the air-conditioning will not be switched on. Crows circle overhead, grey sea stretches out before me. It’s the dream Bombay view. I am covered in a film of sweat.</h1>

<h1 class="full">This is not just because it is as muggy as always, but also because a gust of wind from the open window has dramatically blown open one of Ishaan’s notebooks to a handwritten page from 2016. It’s just sitting there spilling its guts out, and I’m having a moral conundrum, an ethical dilemma even. I put to you that it is impossible to be a writer and not be nosy. We are psychopathically beset with curiosity. So after a few minutes of hopping forward and back, forward and back like some sort of deranged chicken, I tell myself that reading one page of someone’s personal journal is okay, right? Right??? I’ll only read the page that’s open and I won’t even touch the thing. Just one page. No one has to know.</h1>

<h1 class="full">I mean I’m gonna tell everyone.</h1>

<h1 class="full">I’m a bad person. And you know what? I’m okay with it. </h1>

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<h1 class="full">“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long,” Ishaan says, walking in, and I am struck once more by how much physically smaller actors are in real life than on screen. He is very handsome and very young, with an open, easy energy and big, beautiful eyes. He has the kind of face that lights up when a camera is trained on it, and betrays an alluring depth that is unusual for his generation of actors. “Not at all,” I reply, “It gave me a chance to snoop.” Pure panic shoots across his features, but briefly.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">I remind him that he had offered to make me coffee. It’s too late in the evening for him to have any but he confesses that he loves making it almost more than drinking it. “You might as well come inside since you’ve already snooped,” he says, going into the kitchen. The walls of his corridor are filled with old movie posters. Oh he’s serious about coffee, “I’m a snob.” He sprays the beans and grinds them by hand while telling me about his day thus far, makes an espresso while we discuss a common friend, froths some almond milk and then fashions some goddamn latte art. It feels like a glimpse of the care he puts into things. The coffee is delicious. </h1>

<h1 class="full">We are sitting on opposite ends of the couch, and he has fixed me with a steady stare and a slight smile. It’s charming. </h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: What’s your vice, Ishaan? You don’t do substances or drink, so what do you do? Dance?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Kinda. You dance to get out of your body, you know, not to be in it. I really enjoy it and I can lose myself in it. So I do find... I don't want to say a high, but I do find a centering in dancing, a sense of self. I know that's a boring answer, but it's honest.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: You’ve never been high?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I mean I am curious and I’ve explored a little, but no, not really. I’ve not even been drunk, I don't know the feeling. </h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: How is your sense of self? Are you happy with who you are? </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I sleep well at night. I have a good sense of my priorities, my loyalties. I don't worry too much about what people think. There's always a self-questioning, that's very important to me. I used to be hard on myself but I'm getting better at that. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Are you happy with how your career is going?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Yeah, the stakes are very high for me. I think I have a big appetite and I'm ambitious, but I'm happy with the opportunities I’ve had, there's been some good work and I get a lot of unexpected love from my audiences. I also understand that it's extremely important to be perceived to be successful. I’ve learnt that. </h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: What does acting do for you?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Acting is very cathartic. Truthfully expressing yourself is hard, but it's addictive. You also gain a lot of perspective because the whole thing relies on the act of empathy. It gives you different perspectives and then you realize that in the scheme of things, your opinion is rather small. Which is also freeing, in a way. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Are you going to continue choosing a mix of films? Is there one genre you enjoy more than others?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I'm pretty agnostic when it comes to genre. As far as stories go, to me it's more about the conviction of the storyteller; the tone could be anything. Yes, commercial cinema is important career-wise — film is the common man's art, right? It's that medium. So you want to reach as wide as you can. I'm definitely looking to do more commercial films that are in my sensibility so that I’m not being inauthentic. It shouldn’t feel counterintuitive.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: You’ve said before that you’re not chasing fame, that you want to develop your craft.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Yeah I would have made very different choices otherwise. For me it wasn't like, how many people will see this film? It was more, what can I do? How good can I be? How much ground can I cover? And honestly, it wasn't a thought-out decision. It was instinctive.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: You're not a star yet. Does that bother you? </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: (A little defensively) Honestly, different people have different interpretations of what a star is. I've met people, and I can say this very neutrally, I've met people who very convincingly call me a star. And I've met people, like you, who don’t. I feel like I have a strong, objective understanding of where I am.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: What is stardom?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: A connection with the audience. When they connect to who you are beyond just the character that you're playing. I know this might be idealistic, but I would rather that not be fabricated. So maybe it's a longer road, a longer journey for me.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I think so. </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Fuck, this is loaded. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Welcome to dirty magazine. </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: (Laughs) I definitely feel a sense of responsibility towards my loved ones and towards myself. I'm mostly able to be above my impulses when it counts. I'm able to provide a sense of security to myself and to others. So yes, I think I’m a man.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: How has having a single mother shaped you?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Oh, completely. I don't have some theoretical sense of respect for women, it’s inbuilt. My closest relationship in my life is my mother, and she's an incredibly strong woman. Like she's kind of unbelievable, you know. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: You idolise her.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I have a huge amount of respect for her and the person she chooses to be despite the life she's had, the pitfalls she's seen, the lows. But I don't have a blind reverence for her, I can see her as a human being.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Are you hyper independent? </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Yeah, my mom has told me this as an observation about me. I think I've kind of always been that person a little bit. Also, maybe it's the way that my brother [Shahid] and I were raised or her family's values. I don't know what it is, but yes I think I am.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: How’s your mental health doing?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I have very obsessive tendencies and an addictive personality, which is why I have to be careful with everything that I do. I’m not an anxious person but I can get hyperfixated on things. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Ever been in therapy?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: No, I haven’t. But I introspect a lot about my childhood. I'm decoding it every day but at the same time I’m farther and farther away from it every day? So it’s challenging. I also discovered that I have a tendency, a pattern of putting others before myself and that's something I've done a lot of self-work on.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Are you a thinker?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I am an overthinker but I don't always voice my thoughts. I have a lot of them. Maybe I should write. I love notebooks, I buy a lot of them and make random notes.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: Do you journal? (My face completely blank)</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Very haphazardly. I have a lot of notebooks lying around that you'll find notes in at random (his eyes flicker to the one that betrayed him). When I really feel like an emotion is very potent and is bursting out of me, I sit down and just write. I find that I'm able to word it pretty vividly (can confirm) so maybe I should write more.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: How long have you lived in this flat?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Two years now. I've moved 17 times, this is the 18^th house I’ve lived in. But it’s my first time alone. When I was 16 we moved to Cozy Apartments in Yari Road, which my brother was able to buy for us, so my mom and I lived there for 10 years. The lockdowns happened in that house and it was a small place, like apartments in Bombay are. It was my mom, me, two other senior people and two cats in there. It had started feeling like a cage to me. Maybe that's why when I came here and saw the sea I was like, this is all I need. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Moving 17 times? That’s rough.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Yeah I mean I was never miserable or anything and I don't like to talk about it, but I've seen my share. Abundance was not a thing I saw until very recently, contrary to what people might imagine. And there's a lot of imagination out there. </h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: Do you like living alone?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I do. I miss company sometimes but for the first time in my life, I like being at home. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Do you get lonely?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I think every artist feels an inherent sense of loneliness.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: What kind of boyfriend are you? </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I'm gonna call my girlfriend and ask her. </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Look if I say I'm a mediocre boyfriend you'll know I'm lying. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Ohoho.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">IK: I think I'm a good partner. It’s not that I don't have my flaws, I think I’ve been able to work on them from previous relationships and get better. My biggest flaw perhaps is being overly emotional.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Because emotions are fragile, and when you function from pure emotion it's easy to create a ripple effect you can’t control. I get attached and then overextend myself, and then you're not only doing a disservice to yourself but also to your partner, because often that can set a dynamic that is not healthy.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Does that happen often?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: It used to, it was a recurring thing. Now I think I've found a balance. I'm not saying you have to be rational about everything but you have to learn to not be reactive, but be responsive. I have to credit this solely to someone special in my life.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: Hard launch when?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I like guarding my private life and I'll keep it that way, so no hard launches. I've been in relationships with actresses — actors (he corrects himself) — and I've been in a relationship with someone who is not as established as me so I'm very aware of how it affects the women I’m with. But you can't control where you're gonna be seen, where you're gonna be photographed, when it's gonna come out, how it's gonna come out, what people are gonna say… so I’m a bit protective. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: What kind of lover are you?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Hopefully a good one. I think my love language is definitely physical touch, but thoughtful gestures and listening are very important to me. We're all in the digital epidemic so we all have that ‘put your fucking phone down and listen to me, look into my eyes bitch boy.’ We're looking at screens more than we're looking into people's eyes.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: You have very pretty eyes.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Thank you, thank you. You have a very pretty smile. I’m not just saying that as a trade-off but since we're doing this now…</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: So the sensitive, caring kind of lover.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I sense sarcasm.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: Never. Where’s the bad boy in you? </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Unfortunately you’ve met me at a time and a phase in my life when I’m done being toxic.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Are you a very sexual person?</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Do you feel sometimes that it can be your undoing?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: No, I think it's largely positive. It's a form of energy and if you can harness it, it's all good. I think it's a reflection of your lust for life. I'm definitely adventurous, and that translates into my sexuality. It's a big part of who I am. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Adventurous, huh?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Look, fortunately or unfortunately I'm definitely heterosexual. So that's one thing. But I'm definitely experimental in… other ways.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: Do you ever feel misunderstood?</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Often. </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Which is why communication has become more important to me. I’m also in no hurry for people to really know me, you know? It's more important for me to know myself. It's very easy to project a façade.

<h1 class="full">AS: Yeah, also you're an actor.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Exactly. You start to believe your own mythology and then it’s all over. </h1>

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<h1 class="full">AS: I saw the trailer for The Perfect Couple. You look hot.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Thanks, I love being objectified.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: In your thirst trap era. </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I mean, you asked me if I'm a man now, right?</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Okay, 28. How are you growing into your 30s?</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: I feel like I back myself more, I'm on my own team now. I like myself. I'm like, you know what? You work hard, you’re a good kid, you deserve it. So go for things and don't fucking hold back. I want to realize my true potential as an artist and as an actor. And as a fucking star. You can quote me on that.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: But I also think of having a family, kids. I'm simple like that. I hopefully want to do it once, one and done. I do believe you can have one partner, be monogamous. </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: How unfashionable of you.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">IK: I've had my fair share of experiences in my 20s, but I feel the need to respect the sacredness of the thought and the institution. Not in a societal sense, but in a personal way. Also, that would be lovely, right? </h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: It would.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Like if you find someone. So whenever I've felt real connection in my life, genuine connection that’s more than just chemistry and comfort, I would like to be idealistic and think that maybe I can, you know, hold on to it. If I do it, I want to do it with that sense of abandon and that sense of belief.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">IK: Yeah, love is a big part of my life. I think I'm always in love.</h1>

<h1 class="full">AS: Don't give those ones. </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Okay, okay, I am definitely in love. In many ways.</h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: (Laughs) Yeah, I'm in love. </h1>

<h1 class="full">IK: Yeah. I’m leaving it at that.</h1>

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<h1 class="full">Creative Director: Kshitij Kankaria </h1>
<h1 class="full">Photographer: Rid Burman </h1>
<h1 class="full">Set Designer: Risha Shetty </h1>
<h1 class="full">Stylist: Sanoori Jain </h1>
<h1 class="full">Makeup Artist: Sandhya Shekar </h1>
<h1 class="full">Hair Artist: Pratik Gaikwad (Team Aalim Hakim)</h1>
<h1 class="full">Photo Assitant: Deepak Bhagat and Godwyn Cabral </h1>
<h1 class="full">Body Makeup Artist: Vivek Upadhyay</h1>

<h1 class="full">Managing Editor: Anurag Sharma</h1>
<h1 class="full">Art Director: Akansha Kukreja</h1>
<h1 class="full">Editorial Coordinator: Kaushek Haldar</h1>
<h1 class="full">Producer: Imran Khatri Productions & Aaliyah Ladhani</h1>
<h1 class="full">Artist Management: Aishwarya Narayanmoorthy (Matrix)</h1>
<h1 class="full">Artist PR: Trisha Ashar (Jio Creative Labs)</h1>

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He’s cute. He’s hot. He reads. He journals sporadically. He’s emotionally available. He’s doing self-work and fixing his unhealthy patterns. Ishaan Khatter is green flag after green flag, and his thirst trap era is just beginning.