Actor on learning a new instrument, his ‘unique’ romcom and wife Tahira’s filmmaking journey
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 29, 2017)

Fresh off the success of Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s Bareilly Ki Barfi, Ayushmann Khurrana is elated to have R S Prasanna’s Bollywood directorial debut, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, as its follow-up. “Writer Hitesh Kewalya narrated the story to me in Lucknow while I was shooting for Bareilly so both the films are really special to me. Besides, both Bhumi (Pednekar, co-star) and I are coming from successful films like Bareilly and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. The cumulative positivity of the two films will bode well for Shubh Mangal Saavdhan,” the 32-year-old actor asserts.

Ayush, who plays a small town guy grappling with erectile dysfunction in the Aanand L Rai produced romcom, remembers being shocked when the part came along. “This one is an antithesis of Vicky Donor but after the narration, I found the script to be so entertaining and unique that I instantly said yes,” he reveals, reiterating that the “taboo subject” lends immensely to the film’s uniqueness.

Another upcoming project, Sriram Raghavan’s tentatively titled thriller Shoot the Piano Player, marks a paradigm shift in the roles and genres he is known to dabble in. Besides taking on a dark character, Ayushmann, who has already shot for 30 per cent of the film, adds that he also learnt how to play the piano as part of his prep. “I am glad that I have been able to learn a new craft. As a musician, it helped me a lot. I have been training under Akshay Verma, a Los Angeles-based trained pianist. We have not used a double for the piano scenes in the film. I was training for two months regularly, four hours of practice every day,” he informs.

While he treads new territories, Ayush’s wife Tahira Kashyap is charting her own filmi path. “She has directed a short film called Toffee, which I co-produced with (casting director) Mukesh Chhabra. We’re now sending it to film festivals. She has a keen sense of scripts, storyline and screenplay and reads all my scripts,” the actor says, adding that Tahira is currently polishing a few scripts she has written in a bid to turn to feature films. “She keeps on writing new drafts as she is extremely critical of her work,” Ayushmann signs off.