Ishaan Khatter says he fought with makers over shirtless scenes in The Royals: ‘Iss scene mein kya zarurat hain?'

Hindustan Times

a day ago

Actor Ishaan Khatter went shirtless in quite a few scenes for his last release, The Royals, which hit Netflix last month. The actor's washboard abs were the talk of social media for a few days. But did the actor feel there was a tinge of objectification that had slipped into the show? In an interview with Mashable India, Ishaan said that he committed to the project, but even then he 'fought' with the makers over those shirtless scenes. (Also read: Ishaan Khatter says Neeraj Ghaywan told him to lose his muscles for Homebound: 'Don't want to see a single sinew')
During the interview, Ishaan said: "It's that kind of character… jo shirt nahi pehenta hai. Usko nahi jamta (He doesn't like wearing a shirt, as simple as that). To be honest, now it will look like… but since I had committed, I went for it, but I did fight with them on certain days that 'Iss scene mein toh shirt pehen sakta hain. Iss scene mein kya zarurat hain (He can wear a shirt in this scene. It doesn't require him to be shirtless)!' They had very interesting ways to put this into the script, like I can put on a blanket while sleeping… but I had fun doing it.'
Ishaan went on to add that he did a proper training for the scenes in the film, where he had to do horse-riding. Ishaan added that horse-riding was not as scary as it seemed. He also shared that he had to lose all his muscle mass for Homebound. He said, ''You got to lose the muscles!' I was like, yeah, I can do that, it is easier for me to look like that, and he (director Neeraj Ghaywan) was like, 'No, no.. Ishaan please! I don't want to see a single sinew on your body!' I had to lose about 8-10 kilos again!'
The Royals received mixed reviews upon release. Many critics criticised the poor screenplay and the lack of chemistry between Ishaan and Bhumi Pednekar's characters. The show also starred Nora Fatehi, Sakshi Tanwar, Dino Morea, and Zeenat Aman in key roles. Despite mixed reactions, Netflix renewed the show for a second season.