Riding high on the success of his current web series The Royals, actor Ishaan Khatter recently looked back on one of the most defining and talked-about roles of his career—his performance opposite Tabu in Mira Nair’s A Suitable Boy (2020). The unconventional pairing of the young Ishaan with the seasoned Tabu unfolded as a richly layered, coming-of-age relationship that resonated deeply with audiences, and, as Ishaan now shares, was equally authentic and fluid behind the camera.
In an interview, Ishaan called the casting between him and Tabu “perfect,” crediting the show’s storytelling for grounding their chemistry in emotional realism. “I think a lot of it is in the writing. If you were to put Tabu and I in another story, in another piece of writing, where we overlooked the age gap or that we didn’t address it, it might have looked out of place,” he explained. “But it was the point written into the story in that way, and the text supported what we were doing.”
Despite the emotional and physical intimacy required in their scenes, Ishaan Khatter described the working atmosphere with Tabu as relaxed and entirely free of awkwardness. Her warmth and sense of humour, he said, helped him feel completely at ease. “She made me feel safe and seen. I was not freaked out,” he recalled. “She would talk about random things like what we’re having for lunch or even joke about how someone was making eyes at her. She’s so childlike and naughty on set.”
He further spoke about their unspoken rhythm and shared creative language on set, where moments of silence spoke louder than words. “She could be making a joke, and then suddenly, she’d transform into the character. It was so much fun. So much of acting is about making a moment dense — communicating more without saying anything. With Tabu, it just happened. It felt like a conversation through our eyes.”
