Ishaan Khatter opens up about intimate scenes with Tabu in A Suitable Boy: ‘It was like a conversation with our eyes’

Ishaan Khatter has been steadily cementing his place as one of the most promising young talents in Indian cinema. But before The Royals, it was his layered and emotionally charged role in A Suitable Boy that truly showcased his range, especially opposite an industry veteran like Tabu.

In a recent interview with Zoom, Ishaan opened up about what it was like to share screen space — and some of his first intimate scenes — with Tabu in the adaptation of Vikram Seth’s novel. And while the age-gap pairing raised eyebrows when first announced, Ishaan shared that the on-screen chemistry was not only authentic but incredibly natural, thanks in large part to Tabu’s presence.

“I think a lot of it is in the writing,” Ishaan explained. “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 said. “But it was the point written into the story in that way, and the text supported what we were doing.”

Their characters — the young Maan Kapoor and the enigmatic courtesan Saeeda Bai — share a tender, forbidden connection. And for Ishaan, filming their emotionally intimate scenes was an experience grounded not in discomfort, but in trust.

“And with an actress like Tabu, honestly, it’s like, you don’t have to talk about it,” he said. “I have to say, and this sounds, I don’t know, this might sound off or something, but I was not freaked out, absolutely not. In fact, I felt safer, because I was playing off of an actor who I knew would not only understand what I’m doing, but like, take it somewhere else, and I think, that’s the beauty of it with Tabu, we never had to speak about what we’re doing in a scene,” he continued.

The intimacy, he said, didn’t just come from the script — it came from a kind of silent, instinctive collaboration that unfolded naturally on set. “She would be talking about random things, like, what do you want for lunch or something, or like, usko dekha kaise aankhe banara tha… She is very naughty, she’s like a child on set. She could be making a joke, and then suddenly, she could be like this character, so like, I think it was fun, just so much fun working with her because so much of what we do is, of course, you bring the words to life, but so much of what we do is, how do you make a moment dense? How do you make it come alive? How do you communicate more without saying anything? And it just happened, like, seamlessly with Tabu, you know, it was just like a conversation with our eyes,” he said. 

About the show

A Suitable Boy, set in post-partition India, remains a landmark in Indian television storytelling — not just for its ambitious scope, but for its bold casting choices. With a 24-year age gap between Ishaan and Tabu, the show challenged traditional on-screen norms while delivering a relationship that felt emotionally grounded and artistically fearless.

Up next, Tabu will appear in Bhooth Bangla, a Priyadarshan-directed horror-comedy also starring Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal, scheduled to hit theatres in 2026. Ishaan, fresh off his acclaimed turn in The Royals, continues to prove that he’s not just a rising star — he’s one willing to take risks.