Lasyapriya Sundaram (BOMBAY TIMES; September 18, 2018)

The trailer of Ayushmann Khurrana-Sanya Malhotra-starrer Badhaai Ho, directed by Amit Ravindernath Sharma, has hit the airwaves. Just before the trailer launch, Sanya had taken to social media, to wish her co-star, ‘Baadhai Ho’. The tweet did cause some confusion initially, but once the trailer was released, it cleared the air. Ask Ayushmann about it and he says, “When everyone started tweeting ‘Badhaai Ho’ to me, many people must have thought that I am becoming a father for the third time. But now, of course, everyone knows why those wishes were coming my way. It’s about my film, in which I deal with my mother’s pregnancy. When you are in your twenties, you don’t expect your parents to have sex. The film explores this topic. It’s embarrassing for the character I play on screen, but entertaining for the audience watching it (laughs!).”

Elaborating on the concept of older couples having children, the actor says, “I know people who have been through this experience. One of my closest friends, who is my age (34 years), has parents who are 80 years old. His siblings must have been embarrassed when they were young. Older couples having kids doesn’t happen nowadays, but earlier, women would get pregnant at 50. Badhaai Ho is a laugh-out-loud comedy and I said ‘yes’ to the film the moment the narration came to an end.”

Ayushmann has often featured in films, which have addressed issues which are not spoken about openly — for example, sperm donation (Vicky Donor) and erectile dysfunction (Shubh Mangal Saavdhan). Ask him if he has a knack for choosing such scripts and the actor says, “I want to be called the King of Quirks (laughs!). Every year, I should star in a film which breaks taboos and is quirky. I am glad that these films get attracted to me. Main inhen dhoondhne nahi jaata. Yeh apne aap hi mere paas aate hain. So, it’s good fun.”

Badhaai Ho is a family comedy presented by Junglee Pictures, in association with Chrome Pictures. The film, produced by Vineet Jain, Aleya Sen, Hemant Bhandari and Amit Ravindernath Sharma and co-Produced by Priti Shahani, is set to release on Dussehra, October 19.