While many are aware that Ishaan Khatter made his big Bollywood debut with Dharma Productions’ Dhadak alongside Janhvi Kapoor, that wasn’t his actual debut. While it was his first mainstream film, he had appeared on the big screen in a leading role a year earlier, in 2017, in acclaimed Iranian director Majid Majidi’s film Beyond the Clouds. When Ishaan sat for a chat on mid-day’s podcast series The Bombay Film Story, he spilt a lot of beans about his debut project, including his low fees.
Ishaan Khatter reveals his salary for Beyond the Clouds
Ishaan shared with us how much he was paid for his first film, saying, “For me at that time, it was a very big deal. I started with about 10 lakhs for Beyond the Clouds. So I started from there, and that is a significant amount more than actors would get, say, 30 years ago, and also with inflation and everything.”
He further adds, “But for me, it was a 21-year-old, I had started to earn, and then I started to contribute in my own way in the family. My brother was the main earning member at that point. It felt great. And I think that`s obviously something that plays a big hand in your self-confidence going forward. But somehow I had to train my mind to adapt to the business side of things.”
He shares an interesting aspect of his personality, saying, “Because I looked at it from such a purist, my brother always says it to me like a bad word, ‘You`re a purist type guy.’ Not that he`s not like that. But, you know, I looked at it from that point of view.”
About Beyond the Clouds
Beyond the Clouds is a 2017 drama film directed by Majid Majidi. It starred Ishaan Khatter as Amir and Malvika Mohanan as Tara. The film revolves around the bonding between the siblings, a take on human relationships in general.
However, the siblings` bond is tested when Tara lands in jail for a crime that Amir originally committed, which forms the film`s crux. Notably, the film is a grown-up version of Majidi`s earlier-directed film Children of Heaven (1997).
