Ishant got Corey Anderson caught by Kohli after a 24-run knock and then sent back Watling without allowing him to get off the mark to reduce hosts to 86/6.
Earlier, New Zealand slipped into lunch break at 51/4.
Using the green pitch and seaming conditions at Basin Reserve to the maximum, Ishant followed up his nine-wicket haul in the first Test at Auckland and took three for 14 in an unbroken spell of nine overs to wreak havoc onto the Black Caps' top-order.
Mohammad Shami (1/17) picked up the other wicket to complete a great morning for India, while Zaheer Khan was only the third bowler used in this first session.
Kane Williamson (15 not out) and Corey Anderson (zero not out) were the unbeaten batsmen.
This was after Indian skipper MS Dhoni won his seventh straight toss on the tour and elected to bowl first.
The visitors didn't make any changes to their eleven from the previous game which they lost by 40 runs inside four days. New Zealand had already declared their eleven on the eve of the match, with Ross Taylor and Ish Sodhi making way for Test debutants Tom Latham and Jimmy Neesham.
Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford took strike for the hosts, as Zaheer got proceedings underway. While the experienced speedster hit probing lengths immediately, Shami was still in the same mode as at Eden Park, bowling a tad short and looking for bounce from the wicket than movement in the air.
He was negotiated easily by the batsmen as the Kiwi openers took 14 runs off his first three overs.
It meant that Ishant was introduced into the attack as early as the 8th over and thereon, went on to bowl for nine overs, turning this morning session India's way.
Ishant, in his second over, removed Rutherford (12) who was unable to keep down a well-aimed short ball and was caught by Murali Vijay at first slip.
Two overs later, the lanky pacer bowled an inswinger that hit Fulton (13) on his pads and was trapped LBW, resulting in another poor start for the Kiwis.
In his next one, the bowler continued his good work and made debutant Tom Latham's day a bad one, dismissing him for a duck in his first Test innings.
Ishant's spell so far read 3.4-2-1-3 as New Zealand were reeling at 26/3.
It brought Auckland's double-centurion Brendon McCullum to the crease and together with the in-form Kane Williamson, he avoided further damage for nine overs but only put on 19 runs for the fourth wicket, when Shami returned and bowled a much improved fuller length in his second spell.
It earned him just reward, as McCullum (8) played a loose shot and was caught by Ravindra Jadeja at short mid-off.
As the morning turned out to be an uncomfortable one for the hosts, India could have had another wicket in the last over before lunch, when Williamson was caught by Dhoni off Zaheer in the 26th over. But it was a no-ball and the batsman, who had survived a close LBW shout off Ishant in the 24th over, was again lucky.
New Zealand: Peter Fulton, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Brendon McCullum©, Corey Anderson, BJ Watling, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Southee, N Wagner, TA Boult
India: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni©, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma
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