Being a star-kid comes with its fair share of drawbacks. Agreed, you hang out with the industry bigwigs and grow up in the lap of Bollywood, but it does, on several occasion, put constant pressure on one to do their best. One flop and you are seen as a failure. The audience is always busy comparing a star-kid's performance to that of the actor they are related to. Thus, it is likely that the pressure may render one to remain in the shadow of their parent or brother or uncle or friend, or become just their extension while the world is persistently expecting them to be an exact replica or only better.
Creating an individual identity, while stepping aside from your legacy, is not what Ishaan Khatter thinks is important. For he is okay being recognised as Shahid Kapoor's brother. Don't get him wrong, the boy has his priorities set already.
"I have no intention to make a name for myself and to separate my identity from my brother's name. I am proud to be identified as Shahid's brother, there is no shame in it," Ishaan, son of veteran actress Neelima Azeem, told a leading news agency.
While Shahid is Neelima's son with her first husband Pankaj Kapur, Ishaan is her son with Rajesh Khatter. He further said, "Creating a separate identify for myself was never my driving force and will never be," adding that his passion for cinema is his own and not borrowed from anyone else.
"I believe if you are sincere with your work and you are good at it, then your identity will be created by default. Though it feels good if I am getting acknowledged for my work," Ishaan added.
In another interview with a leading daily, Ishaan elaborated on his equation with brother Shahid and how the actor has had one of the biggest influences in his life. "Shahid bhai has been the strongest male influence in my life and I have a very deep attachment to him. Since I was a kid, I have looked up to him. I was about eight when he became a movie actor and so, I was very happy to tail him around on his sets as I got to see the inside view of cinema through film-making so I spent a lot of time on the sets. Later, he became very busy but I have always vied for his attention. He has also been one of my big influences as an actor too," Ishaan told the newspaper.
A young Ishaan made his silver screen debut with award-winning international filmmaker Majid Majidi's Beyond The Clouds. He is all set to follow up the critical success of the movie with a full-fledged Bollywood debut with Dhadak, slated to release on July 20, 2018. Directed by Shashank Khaitan, the movie is a remake of the National Award-winning Marathi film Sairat. It is backed by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions and stars him opposite Janhvi Kapoor, daughter of late veteran Sridevi.
