Ishaan Khatter says 'men are not taught to be men; just taught not to be women', talks about masculinity in female gaze

Ishaan Khatter spoke about how being raised by a single mother and directed by female filmmakers affected his understanding of the female gaze.

In a day and age when a lot has been said and written about the hypermasculine depiction of Indian film heroes, Ishaan Khatter is among the few actors of his generation who have repeatedly played leading men with more sensitive tones. In a recent interaction, the actor discussed how his career has been shaped by female makers and the female gaze.

Ishaan Khatter talks about masculinity and the female gaze.

Ishaan Khatter on masculinity and being a man

Appearing on the Yuvaa All Stars Roundtable 2025, Ishaan talked about his understanding of masculinity. “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,” he said. Ishaan is the child of actors Rajesh Khattar and Neelima Azim, who separated when he was just 6 years old.

In a career that began in 2017, Ishaan has been directed by Mira Nair, Nupur Asthana and Priyanka Ghose, among others. Talking about how being directed by female storytellers has helped him understand the female gaze, the actor 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.”

Ishaan Khatter's recent work

Ishaan was last seen in Neeraj Ghaywan’s acclaimed film Homebound, which is India’s official entry to the Oscars this year. The actor also had a starring role in the Netflix series, The Royals, this year.