Ayushmann Khurrana says he will have to rely on ‘super scripts’ until he becomes a superstar. He chats with Shrabasti Mallik
As per his Twitter profile, Ayushmann Khurrana is an ‘actor, anchor, crooner, donor, poser, composer, blogger, jogger and hogger’. So when he landed here to support Wings For life World Run, he donned hat of a jogger perfectly. For us, it was a good change to catch this sporty guy in spirits, especially after offbeat movies like Hawaizaada and Dum laga Ke Haisha. He looked refreshingly cool in a red jacket and khaki trousers.
The initiative that he is supporting, Wings For life World Run, is being undertaken to support research and treatment of spinal cord injuries. A charity marathon will be conducted across six continents at the same time on May 3. Khurrana told us that he was fond of jogging as a child but couldn’t practise it because of his ‘flat feet’. Doctors declared him unfit for running.
“My father used to take me to the hospital every week and he made me walk in big shoes to get the curvature of my feet right. When I was in fifth grade, I stood third in 100 meters race. So I can naturally relate to people who want to run but cannot due to some sort of injury,” he said.
He believed in the cause and came with facts and figures. He is also elated to see sports flourishing in the country. “Haryana accounts for only two per cent of the Indian population and yet maximum number of sportspersons emerge from this region. Finally the sports scenario in India is becoming better and our icons are doing really well. Saina Nehwal reached the top rankings.
I think we can do much more,” he added. Besides this programme, he also celebrated Datsun’s one year in the Capital. Khurrana in his own little time in film industry has proved his mettle by making unconventional choices. He thinks either stardom or strong content sells at the box office. “In Bollywood, either a superstar or a superscript works. Until I become a superstar, I will have to rely on the scripts. It is good to have content-based cinema backing you,” he said.
The unusual choices come with extraordinary responsibilities and hard work. And the Delhi boy leaves no stone unturned to get into the skin of difficult characters. “In Hawaizaada, I was playing a Maharashtrian so I had to get a dialect coach and get my accent right. Plus I also had to read a lot of history texts to familiarise with time, which was set in 1895. As an actor it is important to do justice to the role. Similarly for Dum laga Ke Haisha, I was in Haridwar for almost 10 days to understand the character and get the milieu right.”
Although he started his career with director Shoojit Sircar, Khurrana wants to work with young film-makers. “You are playing blind when you are working with a new director but then, you have to completely trust the script and the production house backing the movie,” he said and added that he follows his gut feeling.
His last Dum laga Ke Haisha also created headlines after censor board asked the makers to remove word ‘lesbian’. However, he approved of censorship saying, “As long as it does not drift from the arch of the film, censorship is alright. It is also important that they leave the soul of the movie intact. There is no point in beeping and muting words if the board is giving an ‘A’ certificate to the movie.”
His next is Agra Ka Dabra followed by other projects.