Ishaan Khatter is basking in the success of his recently released series, The Royals. Although the show received a mixed response and his co-star Bhumi Pednekar was brutally trolled for her acting and, more so, for her alleged lip job, netizens also criticized the lack of chemistry between Ishaan and Bhumi.
However, despite the criticism, it was Ishaan who stole the show with his bold screen presence. The actor appeared shirtless in most scenes, exuding charm and confidence. In fact, even in scenes where it wasn't necessary for him to be shirtless, he was often seen either unbuttoning his shirt, lounging in a pool, or simply bare-chested at a bar.
This drew backlash from netizens, who felt the excessive shirtless scenes were an unnecessary objectification of Ishaan Khatter. Many slammed the makers for adding raunchy sequences that didn't serve the plot.
Despite the criticism, Ishaan's chiseled physique and washboard abs dominated social media conversations for several days. However, the actor himself wasn't entirely comfortable with the subtle objectification embedded in the show.
In an interview with Mashable India, Ishaan revealed that although he had committed to the project, he often argued with the makers over the abundance of shirtless scenes.
He 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. Still, I did fight with them on certain days, saying, 'In this scene, he can wear a shirt. What's the need to be shirtless?' They had some interesting ways of justifying it in the script — like I could cover myself with a blanket while sleeping... but I had fun doing it."
He also shared that he had to lose a significant amount of weight to showcase his abs on screen.
For his shirtless scenes in The Royals, Ishaan Khatter had to build muscle and maintain a toned physique. However, for his next project — Neeraj Ghaywan's Homebound— he had to quickly shed all that muscle to portray an everyday character.
Ishaan shared, "The director told me I would have to lose all the muscles for Homebound. I was like, 'Yeah.' He said, 'You'll have to look normal.' The actor revealed that he ended up losing 8 kilograms for the role.
Co-starring Zeenat Aman, Sakshi Tanwar, Dino Morea, Milind Soman, Vihaan Samat, Nora Fatehi, Lisa Mishra, Kavya Trehan, Sumukhi Suresh, Addinath Kothare, Udit Arora, and others, The Royals has been streaming on Netflix since May 9.
The story follows the Maharaj of Morpur, Aviraaj Singh (Ishaan Khatter), who is reluctantly forced to take over the throne after his father's death. Meanwhile, Sophia Shekhar (Bhumi Pednekar), the ambitious CEO of Work Potato, proposes turning the royal palace into a luxury B&B. His mother, Padmaja, sees the offer as a financial lifeline, given the family's looming bankruptcy. Amid the palace intrigue and power struggles, old sparks between Aviraaj and Sophia begin to reignite.
