Ishaan Khatter, who turned 30 on November 1st has already collaborated with international filmmakers during his eight years in the business.

One of his films, Homebound has been chosen as India's official Oscar submission this year. One hears that Ishaan has more projects in the West in his sights.

When asked how much of his focus the former demands, he jokes,, “As much as it is here. For me, it’s always been a priority to go wherever the good work is. I’m not scared of pushing myself out of my comfort zone because it takes a lot of that, especially being an actor that is based out of here. It takes more work, it takes effort, but the world is becoming a smaller place and I think it’s a great time where the global spotlight is on India even in films.”

Having appeared in films like The Perfect Couple and Don't Look Up alongside Nicole Kidman, he continues, “I’m very proud that I was able to kind of break that glass ceiling with a character that was not written for an Indian. They had all kinds of guys going up for the part. So that’s what made it land very differently, and everybody took notice of that. There was not a single person who didn’t say like, ‘oh, this is a new way of representing a South Asian male. We’ve not seen that representation before.’ And it’s about time. So I want to double down on that, and I want to do parts that are just parts. To show them everything else that we have, and not just the kind of one tone template ‘My identity is that I am a brown kind of character’.”

He emphasises that work back home will continue, “As far as being rooted is concerned, that’s who I am. So that to me is home. I have been working, and I will continue to, towards finding great films here for the audience and keep giving them surprises as an actor.”

Regarding turning 30, he smiles, “I want to be optimistic about it because they say that 30s are like your 20s, but only you know yourself better and you have more money! In the first few years of your career, you are just figuring out who you are. And when you’re doing it in front of the cameras, it’s a whole another ball game.”