After shooting a few ads at his home in Chandigarh, Ayushmann Khurrana has now returned to a film set for the first time after over six months. The actor, along with his wife, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana and their children had flown to his home city post the lockdown. During his time there, he focused on prepping for his forthcoming film, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, which is being directed by Abhishek Kapoor. The actor says that this project is extra special because it gives him an opportunity to shoot a film in Chandigarh for the first time.

Ayushmann, who has shot in various parts of North India for his films so far, surprisingly never got a chance to shoot in his own city. He shares, “It is remarkable that this will be the first time I’m shooting in Chandigarh. The process is going to be exceedingly special, and I’m going to soak in every second of this experience. The people here have always given me so much love and confidence, right from my school days when I started doing theatre. The seed of becoming an actor was planted here, and I couldn’t be more excited to shoot my next project here. Shooting in Chandigarh is like life coming full circle.”

Having shot commercials at home amid the Coronavirus pandemic, the actor is aware of the new normal on sets, which includes smaller crews, people sporting PPE suits and masks and following the rules of social distancing. He elaborates, “I was shooting with a crew that was also based out of Chandigarh. It took some time to get used to and control the paranoia of the virus, but I am fully focussed on work now, of course, with attention to all safety measures.”

No wonder he seems to be more excited than nervous to head back to work. He says, “If the entire production takes all the necessary and possible precautions, it minimises the risk to a great extent. We all have to work towards restarting our industry, and I’m glad that I have taken a step in that direction to contribute towards this.”

Acknowledging that it has been a rather long break from work, he says, “I’m looking forward to being on a film set again. It feels like we all were making movies in another lifetime.”