Ayushmann Khurrana on dubbing for his female avatar in an upcoming comedy of errors and a week-long ‘detox break’ with wife Tahira Kashyap in Austria
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 6, 2019)

Ayushmann Khurrana, who has just returned from a week-long vacation in Austria with wife Tahira Kashyap, is excitedly waiting to see the response to his next, the comedy of errors Dream Girl, which opens on September 13. Point out that many people are already smitten by his female alter ego Pooja and the actor admits that the film’s team had toyed with the idea of getting a woman to dub for him and while shooting, he was trying his best to sound like one. “Since I was 80 per cent there, I thought of giving it a try, then, if things didn’t work out, we could try getting an actress or a good voiceover artist on board too. I personally love Priyanka Chopra’s voice,” he informs.

Speaking in a female voice is not new territory for Ayush though. During his days as a radio jockey, he would make prank calls as a woman. When he tried dubbing in a studio for the film, it worked. “Of course, I had to give 30-40 takes, focussing on every single line. It was hard work, but we finally got it right,” he beams, revealing that when he was 15, he would call his first girlfriend’s home, and if one of her parents picked up the phone, he would pretend to be one of her female friends. “I think I’d been preparing for this film for years.”

He’d never cross-dressed for a show or film before but raves about how cute Aamir Khan looked dressed like a girl in the Baazi song “Dole Dole Dil Dole”. “Even Kamal Haasan sir in Chachi 420 looked and sounded like a lady with both Om Puri saab and Amrish Puri saab’s characters in love with his Lakhsmi Godbole. They both inspired me but Dream Girl revolves around the boy who works in a call centre, so I had to wear a saree or a lehenga in only around five scenes,” he points out.

Quiz him on his “detox break” with his better half which came after a long time, and Ayushmann informs that they visited the Austrian spa town of Altaussee. “It’s beautiful and quaint. We walked and hiked, chatted and played chess, and binged on good food. We were so completely chilled out that we didn’t want to come back,” he admits.

Prod him on the chess games and he says that after losing to Tahira thrice, he stopped playing. “Now, there is no other vacation happening soon as I will start shooting for Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan from mid-September in Varanasi. It’s a start-to-finish schedule.”