Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; April 3, 2018)

He’s a many-sided man. Showing off his acting chops on celluloid is only one part of it. Ayushmann Khurrana is a singer, composer, poet and now he’s found new love in shayari, too. He believes that if he only pursues acting, he will “get lost somewhere,” and this is where his strong sense of security stems from. The fact that he can tap in to his variety of talent, gives him that edge of confidence. Slowly but surely, he nestled himself in the showbiz game, where fate is fickle, but talent is lauded. He went through the grind, but he found his groove. And last year, he had an impressive run at the BO with films like Bareilly Ki Barfi and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan. His upcoming Junglee Pictures’ and Chrome Pictures’ Badhaai Ho, is another film that’s driven totally by an innovative concept. In a free-flowing chat with BT, he talks to us about his take on life and acting, confesses that he’s never followed advice doled out to him on ‘how to behave like a star’ and how he’s never lost touch with reality. Read on...

You started working at the age of 17 on reality shows on TV, then you went on to become a VJ, anchor et al. Was it all a means to make it to the silver screen?
I always knew that I wanted to be actor. I started working when I was 17, but I was participating in reality shows, so I didn’t take it as a job. I was a part of the reality show wave in 2002. Back then, no one had seen non-fiction on TV and we had no reference point, so we all were just excited to see cameras around us. Not many know that I had done a fiction show called Kayaamat for exactly one month. I also did Ek Thi Rajkumari, though I don’t think anyone watched the show. That was the plan — I wanted to be on TV, but in such a way that no one watched me. I got paid while preparing to be an actor. Earlier, there was this notion that if you do TV you can’t do films. My experience of doing fiction, non-fiction, anchoring shows like India’s Got Talent, Just Dance and many more, gave me the confidence for my career. I realised that if you connect with the youth, you are home. Children love Varun Dhawan for the kind of films he is doing. If you can successfully connect with kids and the youth — you have cracked it.

Did you face the kind of roadblocks that many people who transition from the small screen to the big screen experience? However prepared you might be as an actor; the dynamics of the big screen are different…
I was told by industry people, “You are so normal; you are like just another guy. Why don’t you behave like a star? When you walk in, people should be falling for you”. But I tried telling them that I wanted to do real cinema and real stuff. I wanted to play roles that people could connect with. This was around 2007-08, at that time no one understood what I was trying to say. I would give auditions and people would say, “Woh star material dikhna chahiye”. I said theek hai, but I never took them seriously. I am glad that I was part of that phase of cinema that started in 2012 with films like Kahaani and Vicky Donor. Now, it’s caught on, content is the king and you have to own the character. It is not about being somebody else on screen, but discovering yourself.

Seeing success and rejection at the start of your career must have toughened you up for the journey ahead…
I am a passionate actor, but I am also very practical. I started with plan C to reach plan A. Like I mentioned earlier, I have had such a variety of experiences before I became a big screen actor, that now I don’t feel any sense of insecurity. Tomorrow, if I want to pack my bags and go back, I can do it. I can be a programming head in Shimla, do my morning shows and enjoy it. If my films don’t do well, I won’t feel insecure about the question, ‘what will you do next?’ I also pursue music passionately. If I only pursue acting then I will get lost somewhere. I need to do other things to make my life interesting. Only if you live your life fully can you translate all of that on celluloid. If you are only an actor 24/7, then what else will you do? If you are only surrounded by people from the cinema world, then, you can’t be in touch with normal people. I often go with my manager to the chai ki tapri, and talk to them about kya chal raha hai unke zindagi mein. The people who are sitting there and reading the paper, un logon ne shaayad meri filmein bhi nahin dekhi hai. Right now, I am a multiplex actor. Kuch bhi bolo, main abhi bhi single screen ka hero nahin hoon. I want to become one. I want to reach out to those people, hence I need to know them. A lot of my experiences also come from doing theatre in my younger days. I had formed two theatre groups in Chandigarh. In those days, we would travel from Chandigarh to Mumbai in second class sleeper compartments. We were 15 boys who would carry our guitars and dholaks and do street theatre. During our train journey, we would go from one bogie to the other and sing for the passengers. They would be so thrilled that they would give us anything ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 100. I have gone through these amazing experiences and that’s why I say that I am a trained singer, kyunki maine train mein gaya hai (laughs).

Well, now there are more opportunities for all kinds of actors to fit into the Bollywood space, owing to the kind of films that are being made. In your case, it appears that you were lucky to be there in the right place at the right time, too?
Life is like musical chairs, when the music stops, there has to be an empty chair next to you. Most of the time, it doesn’t depend on you. If I wanted to be an actor in the ’80s or ’90s, it would have been a lot tougher, because back then nepotism was prevalent, not now. I don’t think it happens now, as every day new directors, producers and actors are coming up. There is no filter that isko nahin aane denge. If you have talent you will survive.

Earlier, most of the strugglers would stand outside big movie studios, with stars in their eyes and wonder… kabhi entry milegi yahaan? Right now, the casting system is so streamlined, if you are talented and get selected for the audition, you can make it work. That’s how every few months we see debutantes doing well. We are living in a time when only talent counts.

After a great start in the movies with Vicky Donor, was there immense pressure about what to do next? Your following films Nautanki Sala, Bewakoofiyaan, Hawaizaada were disappointments at the box office. Did you grapple to find your ground?
Yes, there was pressure. I had said no to a lot of films even before signing Vicky Donor. I always thought that my first film should be really good. As an outsider, if your first film is not good, then you are finished. Nobody will give you a second chance. Post my debut, I had to choose something path-breaking like Vicky Donor, and I was not getting that kind of film again… Aisi filmein mushkil se banti hai. I went the conventional route and did films like Nautanki Saala and Bewakoofiyaan, which didn’t do well at all. When that happens, more than the pressure felt by the actor, the producer of his next film gets the heebie-jeebies. Today, when I listen to a film’s narration, I don’t look at it as what it will do to my image or the fact that isme mujhe kya karna hai. The priority is that the story should work in totality. If that is okay, then, I come to my part in the story. Initially, I would think about myself first and that’s been a learning process. As an actor you should not get lost in the crowd, you need to create a space for yourself.

Has success changed you? Do you view life from a different lens now?
The highs and lows that I have seen in the past 5 years have kept me sane. I always feel that success is very fickle, while failure is your friend, philosopher and guide. It teaches you a lot and makes you rational. In this volatile industry, things change every Friday. Apart from that, being a family man gives me a different perspective towards life. I became a father when I was 27, so I am not living the life of a bachelor or thinking… main toh superstar hoon, yeh ho jayega, woh ho jayega. I can’t do that, I have to think about the future as well.

Did you start off with ambitions of being a superstar? Today, are you aggressively ambitious?
Andar se sabhi ambitious hote hai. You are faking it if you say mujhe yeh nahin banna hai. But yes, I am ambitious as far as my craft and passion is concerned. I want to do good quality cinema and path-breaking roles. Beyond that, no one has control over what happens in this business.

You just wrapped up the Delhi schedule of your next Junglee Pictures’ and Chrome Pictures’ Badhaai Ho, directed by Amit Sharma. I believe that this one is also an unconventional story in the quirky space…
Yes, it is again a quirky film; I think I own the quirky film genre. Agar koi actor aisey film karna chahata hai, he should be told, ‘Ayushmann ke type ki film kar rahe ho (laughs)’. The best part of my character in the film is that he’s very urban in the office space and very desi when he’s home. Most middleclass Delhi guys are like that. They speak English in office, par ghar pe koi English bolta hi nahi. It’s a very cool story, though I can’t reveal too much about it.

While you career as an actor is flourishing, your passion for music has never moved out of focus. Did you dream of being a rockstar, someday?
If you love doing something, you don’t need to make time for it. You will figure out how to do it. Yes, I have always dreamt of being a rockstar. My friend Rochak and I had a band in school, and we would jam with geometry boxes and sing along. In college, we would do street plays with eight guitarists and a few guys on the dholak. Imagine the visual and the sound… it is overwhelming. It creates euphoria and madness. So in our heads we were rockstars and we would own that space. We would love performing in an all-girls college as our band was from an all-boys college. It was a crazy high.