Ayushmann Khurrana cannot rest. Recently, he checked into Bollywood’s favourite getaway, the Austrian wellness resort VivaMayr, with his wife, Tahira Kashyap, a cancer survivor. Not even a week after his return, Khurrana was promoting Dream Girl, his second release of 2019. He needed the break.
The National Award-winning actor has been on a shooting spree since late 2018, jumping from one film to another, much like his predecessors did two decades ago, and which only Akshay Kumar does currently. Khurrana’s busy calendar included Dream Girl; Article 15, Anubhav Sinha’s powerful investigative thriller which went on to earn Rs 65 crore; Bala, to be released in November in which his character suffers from premature baldness; and Gulabo Sitabo, a 2020 release which will see him team up once again with acclaimed filmmaker Shoojit Sircar who gave him his big break in Vicky Donor in 2012. And if this wasn’t tiring enough, Khurrana has already begun shooting for his next, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, in which his character is a gay man-a type of role few popular heroes have played.
“You need a mass hero to normalise it,” says Khurrana. “Though Section 377 is decriminalised, it is still a taboo for many. I’m excited that it [cinema] goes to smaller cities. Only then will you be able to address the prejudice. Otherwise, you are preaching to the already converted.” On a career high after three successive hits-Andhadhun, Badhaai Ho and Article 15– Khurrana says it’s “the perfect time” to tackle the subject. It’s this decisiveness that makes him a trailblazer in Bollywood.
Dream Girl, his latest, is another example of Khurrana’s tendency to surprise audiences and, in the process, challenge himself. To play Karam, he had to speak like a woman and, at times, even dress like one. “I’ve always treaded middle-of-the-road territory and been critic-friendly,” says Khurrana. “This time I went mass-y. Dream Girl is an ode to the ’90s comedies. It’s over the top, slapstick and where I tell you to leave your brains behind and go and have fun.”
Dream Girl is again proof that Khurrana realises a talented supporting cast only makes him and the film better. In Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017), it was Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi, while in Badhaai Ho, it was Gajraj Rao, Surekha Sikri and Neena Gupta. In Dream Girl, the comic timing of Vijay Raaz, Annu Kapoor and Manjot Singh keeps the audiences amused.
Khurrana is in a league of his own at the moment. Like his contemporaries, he isn’t playing real-life heroes or starring in big-budget action spectacles. He isn’t even appearing in every second commercial that plays on air. Instead he is carving a niche as the ordinary man grappling with quirky, yet relatable problems and negotiating them with an infectious energy. It’s a formula that has worked so far. “I have stopped being overwhelmed by the big names,” he says, while citing the long list of first-time directors he has worked with. “A good idea can come from anywhere. I am open to ideas from rank newcomers and not just the industry bigwigs.”
More than the film’s budget or the producer, Khurrana is drawn to the premise and how it unfolds. ‘How interesting and different it is’ determines his participation in it. Though he is now eager to push the envelope and do an action film or a love story. “I’d love to change genres and the tone of my acting too,” he says.
At the moment, though, Khurrana finds himself in an interesting predicament. He doesn’t know what he will do after Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhaan. “I will wait for another year if I don’t get a good script,” he says. “I can afford to because next year’s slate is ready.” With great success, apparently, also comes great confidence.
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