‘MAINE SAARE TABOO TOPICS KHATAM KAR DIYE HAIN’

From clutterbreaking cinema to family entertainers, Ayushmann Khurrana reflects on his evolving choices
Sonal Kalra (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 16, 2026)

His career spans 14 years, and he already has a National Award to his name, apart from the moniker ‘clutter breaker’. Actor Ayushmann Khurrana, currently tickling the audience’s funny bone with his latest flick Pati Patni Aur Woh Do (PPAWD), spoke on The Right Angle with Sonal Kalra about his upcoming choices, post-Covid trajectory shift, and more:

Currently, high-end, action, nationalistic-flavour films are trending. It’s said that the era of films keeps changing, and this one’s the current flavour. What do you think is the future of slice-of-life films like yours?
Kisi bhi zamaane mein aaiye, clutter break hona chahiye. I don’t feel like following whatever is working. This has been my genre, of course, but going forward, even I am doing an action film, it will be an action-comedy. I guess whatever interests me or engages me to my core, I go for it rather than thinking about trends or algorithms in cinema.

You bring relatability to the table as an actor. Pati Patni Aur Woh Do has three female leads with you. Is there stress that along with the relatability, people might brand this character a ‘cheater’?
We are not promoting infidelity with this film. In fact, out of all the films in the Pati Patni franchise, only ours has a male lead who doesn’t have a roving eye. He’s loyal to his wife. It’s a comedy of errors; he gets caught in such situations.

You shot in Prayagraj. What was special about the experience?
I had never shot there before this film. In fact, this film was tentatively titled Prayagraj Ka Prajapati! But since Pati Patni Aur Woh has been an iconic franchise since the first film in the 1970s, the producers titled it this. So many films have been based in Kanpur and Varanasi till now, so we thought Prayagraj is the one!

You said recently that failure doesn’t bother you, you are more afraid of making safe but boring films. Can you elaborate on this?
I always wanted to be courageous when it comes to my choices. Courage surpasses talent most of the times. Kabhi kabhi aap mein voh kadam lene ki himmat nahi hoti, jabki aap ke paas talent hota hai. This (PPAWD) is a commercial, safe film. My upcoming films are courageous. I did films like An Action Hero (2022) and Andhadhun (2018). It has to be a mish-mash so that my commercial films can help my other kind of films.

You have Yeh Prem Mol Liya coming up. What’s the status of the shoot, and what’s it like to be on a Sooraj Barjatya film set? A lot of sanskaari vibes?
It’s 90% shot; one song and two scenes are left, which is a maximum of seven days of shoot. It will release on November 27 this year. Jab main Sooraj sir ke set pe jaata hoon toh unke set ko naman karta hoon, touch his feet! It really feels like I have come to a temple. He’s such a spiritual person, very clean-hearted. Unse zyaada sant insaan industry mein koi nahi hai. He’s a purist and goes by his vision, hamesha audience aur fans ko saath mein leke chalte hain. Every actor in his film’s cast is the hero. The last time I did a film like this was Badhaai Ho (2018), jahaan naani se lekar daadi tak, everyone was an important character. We are going back to that. The entire family is the star of the film, and only Sooraj Barjatya can do that.

Are there any actors, too, whose feet you feel like touching as you are blown by their talent?
(Actors) Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan sir, of course we revere them. Among my contemporaries, I really love Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. We have a lot of exciting actors in our industry, but these are the ones I really respect.

When you are home, is there active involvement of your family in your work? Is there advice that you get from your kids, or any suggestion?
I am doing films which cater to family audiences. My daughter Varushka (12) watched the edit of Pati Patni… recently, and she loved it! That’s the barometer — that my kids enjoy my films. It has to reach Gen Alpha also, apart from Millennials and Gen Z. I want to do family films and get them into theatres. The fun of community watch is amazing.

You have done a host of films on taboo subjects — from sperm donation to erectile dysfunction. Is there another taboo which makes you think, ‘Iss pe film banegi toh I would want to work in it’?
I think maine saare taboo topics khatam kar diye hain (laughs). I have worked in so many films based on them. It limits the family audience. I did films on taboo subjects before the Covid pandemic. Even after that, I did Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021) and Doctor G (2022), which didn’t get as much at the box office as I hoped for. After OTT became big, I only looked for films which were for wider audiences. Taboo break se zyaada relatable subjects which people can watch together. Everything was so different before the pandemic; the films I did had tremendous box office uproar. But things changed post-pandemic.

What’s your life mantra?
Courage is bigger than talent. Take risks. Sahi waqt kabhi nahin hota; jab aap karte ho, tabhi sahi waqt hota hai.