Young actor Ishaan Khatter, 25, has added an unusual feather to his cap by shooting himself in a series of selfies for the Sunday magazine of the Hindustan Times, called HT Brunch.
Khatter shot a total of seven photographs using different innovations that only a millennial can understand. In addition to the common Mirror Selfie, where Khatter poses shirtless and flexes, there are auto-timed self-photographs taken through a foam roller, another when lying in front of a large mirror, and yet another through the prism of a trophy that Khatter has won, that transfers a myriad tiny images of the actor across the frame.
`Selfies are fun, and a good way to capture moments, but for actors, they have also become a mode for branding,` says Ishaan. `With the selfie camera, you can be the photographer and the subject, and during this lockdown, when you can't do proper photo shoots, this has become far more than an extension of narcissism.`
The actor elaborates on this new art form. `Selfies are the new mirrors for actors,` he says. `They can be a very effective tool`.
Khatter seems most excited about the selfie he has taken using his Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award trophy. `I invented my own kaleidoscope of sorts and the pictures are trippy,` he says. His second favourite seems to be `My jugaadu shot that I took through the hollow of a foam roller!`
With this feature, HT Brunch questions the death of vanity and acknowledges the ease with which young people photograph themselves. `There was a time when only artists were allowed to paint self-portraits, but now, we are all at it.` says an editorial in the magazine. Some interesting facts it mentions:
Google reports that 93 million selfies are clicked each day through android devices
In 1995, the year Ishaan Khatter was born, a selfie stick featured in a book called 101 Unuseless Japanese Inventions!
The selfie emoji was introduced in 2016.
HT Brunch also draws a parallel between the selfies of today and the self-portraits of yore. Van Gogh painted 30 self-portraits during his lifetime and Rembrandt did close to a 100. When asked about her obsession with self-portraiture, Freida Kahlo had said, `I paint them because I am alone so often, and because I am the person, I know best!`
In the interview, Ishaan Khatter also talks about his unusual choice in movies, his debut Beyond the Clouds by Majid Majidi, Dharma's Dhadak and his relationship with his step brother, Shahid Kapur. Khatter's mini web series for Mira Nair A Suitable Boy has been getting mixed reviews and is slated to release on Netflix soon. His film Khaali Peeli is set for a digital platform release in early October.
HT Brunch is India's largest lifestyle magazine that has a readership of 4 million every week. It is distributed free with the Sunday Hindustan Times all over the country.
