Over the past few years, Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar have carved a niche for themselves with their nuanced performances in content-driven films. The two, who first featured together in Dum Laga Ke Haisha, are teaming up for the second time with Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, which addresses the problem of performance anxiety in men and the repercussions it has on a couple and their relationship. The film's team - Ayushmann, Bhumi, director R S Prasanna and producer Aanand L Rai - recently visited the Bombay Times office and spent a few hours talking about unconventional actors and movies, and cinema that stuns the audience and stokes issues that impact our society. Excerpts...

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (SMS) addresses an important yet taboo subject about erectile dysfunction in men. How did you stumble upon such a unique idea?
Ayushmann: Director Prasanna approached me three years back for the film. The movie was originally made in Tamil and it did well. In fact, it was known as the Vicky Donor of the South when it released in 2013. For me, however, SMS was like the complete antithesis of Vicky Donor. That's what excited me about it.
Aanand: We knew that it would take at least a year-and-a-half to adapt the script to Hindi, but we shared the idea with Ayushmann. There are very few actors who try to understand the script as a whole rather than just focussing on their characters. Both Bhumi and Ayushmann take the entire script into consideration.
Ayushmann: After Vicky Donor and Dum Laga Ke Haisha, this was the third script I said 'yes' to immediately.
Bhumi: I got a call from Aanand sir one day, asking me to come for a narration. When I heard the script, I liked it because it was really funny. Then they narrated the 'biscuit girna' scene - signifying the issue of performance anxiety - and my reaction was, 'Oh my God!' I literally did a slow clap and said, 'This is gold!' After that, I couldn't stop laughing.

When you deal with a subject like performance anxiety, there is a very fine line between addressing the message while mixing it with humour and drama. How did you manage to steer clear of stereotypes?
Aanand: More than being a love story, the film intends to bridge the gap between two generations. We wanted a problem which was discussed in the bedroom to come out in the open.
Prasanna: We wanted to ensure that the entire family can watch it without feeling uncomfortable and also laugh along with us. Today's audience is far more evolved than what we give them credit for. Our grandparents' generation was also more evolved than what we think. If I don't want to talk to my father about sex education and prefer looking up on the internet, that is my problem. He clearly knows more about life than me. In fact, the Indian middle class is extremely liberal. They just need an opportunity to come together and talk about things openly.

Bhumi, you have so far only associated with films that are issue-based? Is there a thought behind it?
Bhumi: I have a lot of issues actually (laughs). The medium I have chosen is films and I am very proud that the films I have done educate people about something. It's my way of contributing to society. The themes in my films are universal and everybody can watch it.

Ayushmann, when you choose subjects like this as a leading man, do you fear that it will challenge your conventional image of an Indian male?
Ayushmann: Well, that's the message we are trying to convey through this film. My character Mudit is macho. SMS celebrates the alpha male of our country, who is suffering from performance anxiety. He, along with his partner, is trying to fight the problem. For the couple, it is them versus the family. The film draws attention to the fact that manhood is not just about 'getting it up', but standing up for various issues.
Bhumi: Ayushmann is one of the most secure people I know. You have to be very secure about your masculinity to take up a subject without even thinking about it. Ayushmann represents the qualities that we all wish a man had. I have seen him with his wife, kids, friends and me. He is genuinely a great guy.

Ayushmann, you don't shy away from picking roles which are not typically heroic to start with. Like in Dum Laga Ke Haisha, you played a character who wanted a hot and sexy wife. Many people might think of it as being shallow. Even in Bareilly Ki Barfi, your character had grey shades at one point...
Ayushmann: My wife says, since I am perfect in real life, I should choose imperfect roles on reel (laughs).
Bhumi: Your wife says you are perfect in real life? Ayushmann, love is blind! Did she really say that?
Ayushmann: I am joking (laughs), but it's good to play characters who are imperfect and real. In this film too, the couple is projected as not-so-cool or hot. We celebrate imperfections in the film. Life is all about imperfections, which, in a way, is endearing.

Almost all your films are set in a middle-class milieu. Do your choices also come from the fact that you identify with those values a lot?
Ayushmann: Seventy per cent of our nation belongs to the primary sector. Most of us live in small cities. So, what's wrong with representing them?
Bhumi: Of course, we identify with those values. The Indian value system is universal. We might not have personally gone through most of these problems, but we are aware of them and they should be spoken about for the sake of a healthier society.

Lastly, is it guts, gumption or conviction which governs your choice of roles?
Aanand: Ayushmann and Bhumi are like Vikram aur Betaal. They are intelligent actors and when you offer them a script which has an important message, they can't say 'no'. The films that they have chosen are all about concept and content.
Ayushmann: I started my career as a sperm donor, which was very radical. A lot of stars had turned it down. Back then, it was unconventional and that's the path I want to tread. All my successful films have been content-driven.
Bhumi: After Dum Laga Ke Haisha, I tasted blood. My sensibilities veer towards such films now. I basically do films that I, as an audience, would want to go and watch. The credit goes to writers and filmmakers who are attempting subjects which are different. An actor like me is surviving because of content-driven cinema.

R S Prasanna is gearing up for his Hindi directorial debut with the Ayushmann Khaurrana-Bhumi Pednekar starrer, Shubh Mangal Savdhan, a remake of his 2013 Tamil romcom Kalyana Samayal Saadham. The film revolves around Mudit and Sugandha who are heading towards an arranged marriage when it is revealed that the boy suffers from erectile dysfunction. “I've always loved films that push the envelope. After the original released, many people wrote to me admitting that their marriage was on the rocks because of this ailment,“ Prasanna says, adding, “The film asserts that love is important and the challenge of the subject excited me be cause I know it'll open up a debate.“

Prasanna met producer Aanand L Rai in Mumbai at his Tamil film's screening in 2014. “Afterwards, he gave me a hug and invited me to his office. At that point we hadn't even discussed a remake but when we started working on it, he cautioned me, saying 'Prasanna don't Bollywoodise the film'“, he says.

He assures that this story and some of the characters are different from his Tamil film. “Only the core concept and the feel remains the same. In fact, our writer Hitesh Kewalya didn't see the original until we finished shooting,“ informs Prasanna, who spent two weeks in Delhi, Rishikesh and Haridwar with Hitesh as part of their “cultural recce“.

His wife Minakshi is an army girl and has lived all over the country so he claims he's comfortable with North Indian culture. “We had a wonderful time sampling street food and trying to understand these places, people better. I was able to connect with them when I was writing,“ says Prasanna, asserting that he's familiar with Hindi as he lived in Mumbai as a child and his mother was born and brought up in Matunga.

He locked the final script in October 2016, roped in the cast by November and rolled in early 2017. So, was Ayushmann cast because he's become synonymous with the sperm donor of Shoojit Sircar's Vicky Donor? “That's the immediate afterthought but not the reason why he was cast. He has brought so much life and charm to this character though I'm aware that the audience will joke that the sperm donor has gone missing here,“ laughs Prasanna, who became a father a second time recently but refuses to talk about it.

Given the subject, is he anticipating censor problems despite the fact that we have a progressive CBFC Chairperson in Prasoon Joshi now? “I sometimes joke that ours is the cleanest film as it's about a guy who can't even have sex,“ he laughs. “On a more serious note, many lives are affected by this biological problem. But so what if you can't get it up, stand up for love.“