This Has Been Ayushmann Khurrana's 'Companion Since School Days'

Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; October 15, 2022)

He has made a career out of taking risks for the right reasons, by his own admission. He rewrote the rulebook for the mainstream Bollywood leading hero. And with one gutsy act after another, he won over the audience’s love with several light-hearted movies that carried the load of heavy-weight subjects. With Junglee Pictures, Doctor G, which hit the theatres on Friday, Ayushmann Khurrana stepped into an unfamiliar space once again and owned it. In a conversation with us, he talks about the women force in his life, stepping out of his skin for roles and more. Read on…

From being a sperm donor in Vicky Donor, cut to 10 years later, here you are seen delivering babies in Doctor G?
Life has come a full circle, isn’t it? And it’s evident how you have staunchly followed your belief in a certain kind of content-heavy cinema. I have always believed in cinema for change and it is something that I started with my first film, Vicky Donor, and since then, I have been tirelessly treading on that path. I think a film is more palatable to people when it is shown in a way that it has something to say. And yes, you are right that life has come a full circle. It was beautiful that I got a chance to play a doctor in this film, and this is the kind of content that attracts me.

In Doctor G, your character, Dr Uday Gupta is quite a chauvinist, and his beliefs clearly fall within gender stereotypes. In real life, you are a far stretch from that. Tell us about how the women around you have impacted your life and the choices you have made.
It all depends on the kind of women and people you are surrounded with in your life. My grandmom was a pure artiste, she would sing at the gurudwara, and was interested in various art forms. She would appreciate cinema, too. My grandfather was very strict, so she would take her five sons to the theatre to watch movies. She was a huge Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand fan, and she would mimic actors. I have never seen a woman of that age mimic actors, she was ahead of her times. My mother, who taught me Hindi, would really motivate me to take part in debates, especially in Hindi. I was in an all-boys school and college, and then I met Tahira, and she made a gentleman out of me. I really thank these women for shaping my life.

This year you complete a decade in Hindi cinema — quite a landmark year. However, your journey began much earlier — as a theatre artiste, RJ, VJ, TV reality show celebrity and finally, as a Hindi film actor. What is it that remains unchanged about you through this journey which has seen high, lows, and a lot of success?
I think my core is still the same. In my early days, I did a lot of street theatre, which was based on social issues, and I firmly believe that my cinema is an extension of that. My experience in theatre has always helped me choose subjects which are relevant, topical, close to people and mostly taboo. It comes from there. I am still a simple guy from Chandigarh. I would love to call myself a minimalist, I know there are a lot of embellishments that come with this profession, but I would love to stay away from that.

Do you think the fact that filmmakers saw you as this rare lead actor who was willing to push barriers with subjects that most commercial actors would not dare to do (as your roles were not the typical alpha male characters) helped you carve this distinct space you have in the industry today?
I always thought I was an unconventional actor, and I would have to make unconventional choices. I probably saw the industry closely when I was an anchor, journalist and radio presenter. I learnt a lot by watching them and the choices they made closely. I remember when I was a VJ, I had turned down six films. I believed that if I made the wrong choice, then being an outsider, I wouldn’t get a second chance. So, I thought that my first film had to be special and clutter-breaking. And I am glad that I got a movie like Vicky Donor because it couldn’t have been better. Coming from a small city and trying to make it on my own — I didn’t know how else I could have been different. It had to be with choices and films that were different from what was conventional.

It’s the third time in your career that you are being directed by a woman. While gender does not define what one is capable of or how good someone is at a task, do you think that the female gaze makes a difference, or at least for certain subjects?
I think every film should have a female gaze. I know a director is a director, but a female director brings a lot to the table. There is more sensitivity, and you just can’t say anything as the right of humour. I think the female gaze is important in any progressive cinema. I know that a typical commercial cinema could be slightly regressive in nature, and I am saying slightly as I may offend a lot of people, but I understand that it goes with the popular palate. I have worked with three female directors — Nupur Asthana (Bewakoofiyan), Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari (Bareilly Ki Barfi), and now Anubhuti Kashyap, who is fantastic. I think every film should have a female gaze, not just this. In a lot of commercial films, maa ka kaam kya hota hai? Bas khana parosna? Ya biwi ka kaam kya hota hai? The women have nothing to do in the movie. So, a film like Doctor G is for the women, of the women and by the women.

Today, in the digital era, many actors are talking about taking risks and pushing boundaries to win over a wider section of the audience who consumes content largely on OTT platforms. We have seen you play characters where you are a man battling baldness, figuring out how to deal with erectile dysfunction, impersonating a female voice for a living and more such. And this was all for mainstream cinema and way before the OTT wave. In that sense, would you say you were ahead in your choices and thought process?
Well, maybe. People have called me a trailblazer and trendsetter, as I said earlier, I guess the confidence in my script writers came with my first film. They started thinking so out of the box that they started writing subjects that were not spoken about. From 2017 onwards, I started getting great scripts. I think they started writing keeping me in mind and believing that I would support it and take their vision forward. Also, I am saying this because most of my hit films are with first-time directors or fairly new directors. Doctor G, too, and even my next one. I’ve always been a quintessential risk taker, and I love working with fresh talent as it gives me the impetus to give my best.

And they also fearlessly bring in an entirely new and fresh perspective to cinema, right?
The entire genre of my films is based on fearlessness. And that is important and only a first time director is fearless. The more you succeed and climb the ladder of success, you become fearful of what will happen.

However, in your case, it seems like the appreciation and success you got with every unconventional film, made you more fearless to take on such subjects. Would you agree?
Yes! Every single time I get approached by a script writer or a director, there is no parameter that I have to work with this or that director. Of course, I would like to work with filmmakers like Rohit Shetty, Zoya Akhtar and Raju Hirani. At the same time, I have always got great scripts from first-timers. I have also been doing films which are away from my skin, like Andhadhun, Article 15, and they were very different from my staple genre – slice of life, social comedy, dramedy. Then, I have Action Hero coming up, which is again completely different from my skin. So, I have to break out of my genre after every two-three films, and every time I do that, yes, I get nervous as it is away from my core, and that’s the real challenge.