Ishaan Khatter has never shied away from speaking his mind, and at the recent Yuvaa All Stars Roundtable 2025, he offered a thoughtful take on masculinity, shaped largely by his upbringing and career experiences.
Raised by a single mother and having worked extensively with female filmmakers, Ishaan spoke about how these influences have defined his understanding of what it means to be a man.
What Ishaan Khatter Said About Masculinity
He said, "Men are not taught to be men; they're just taught not to be women. A lot of my understanding of what it means to be a man is in correlation with the relationship between men and women. Masculinity, to me, has been defined by the fact that I have been raised by a single mother."
Ishaan is the son of Rajesh Khattar and Neelima Azim. The couple parted ways when Ishaan was 6 years old.
Throughout his eight-year career, Ishaan has worked with several women directors, including Mira Nair, Nupur Asthana, and Priyanka Ghose.
Speaking about that experience and how they helped him to have a better understanding of the female gaze, Ishaan added, "Because I have been subject to the female gaze and I have been privy to it, main usko kuch hadd tak samajh paaya hoon (I have understood it to some extent). Eight years of my career so far, I think I have worked with 50% female makers. Ek alag nazariya samajh paana bahut badi taaqat hoti hai (To understand a different perspective is a great strength), and that is what cinema is for. That is what we all do. The job is empathy."
On the work front, Ishaan's film Homebound has been shortlisted for the 98th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
Other films on the shortlist include Argentina's Belen, Brazil's The Secret Agent, France's It Was Just an Accident, Germany's Sound of Falling, Iraq's The President's Cake, Japan's Kokuho, Jordan's All That's Left of You, Norway's Sentimental Value, Palestine's Palestine 36, South Korea's No Other Choice, Spain's Sirat, Switzerland's Late Shift, Taiwan's Left-Handed Girl, and Tunisia's The Voice of Hind Rajab.
Also Read: Karan Johar At The London Leg Of Homebound Screening Hosted By Gurinder Chadha
