The one thing that the audience expects from an Ayushmann Khurrana offering is novelty. The actor is assured that Anek, his second project with Anubhav Sinha after Article 15 (2019), will deliver on that count. While it is known that the social thriller is set in north-east India, Khurrana reveals that the director has deftly explored the theme of national identity in the current socio-political climate.

“Anek is a powerful film [that] should invoke a sense of patriotism among the audiences. It will ask what it takes to be an Indian above all the divide that the country faces. [At its core] is a hard-hitting question: What does it take to be called an Indian?”

To the actor, Anek — labelled as an “unlikely patriotic film” by the makers — is an extension of his pursuit for brave stories. Even as he took it slow in the past two years, Khurrana championed queer love in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020) and brought a transgender romance in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021).

His line-up for 2022 is equally diverse. “I have always tried to  handpick projects that are out of the ordinary, and I’m bringing the best of content that I can find for the audiences to watch,” says the actor, who has a social comedy in Doctor G and a mass entertainer in Action Hero.

Director Anubhuti Kashyap’s medical campus drama, also starring Shefali Shah and Rakul Preet Singh, sees Khurrana as a male gynaecologist. “Doctor G will make people ponder about an important social issue that is told in an entertaining manner,” he says, while admitting that Aanand L Rai’s production Action Hero is a break from his own brand of movies.

With the Anirudh Iyer-directorial venture, the actor has added an out-and-out actioner to his resume. “Action Hero is fresh, zany and quirky. I loved exploring this genre for the first time.”