As Vicky Donor clocks 10 years today, Ayushmann Khurrana, gets candid about his journey

Nonika Singh

Today his name is a sure-shot ticket to meaningful, sensible and statement cinema. Ayushmann Khurrana might be an unlikely superstar but his track record is more enviable than many who have ruled the marquee for longer. As our very own Chandigarh boy jogs down the memory lane, recalling his street theatre days on the very streets where today he is mobbed effusively by his ever-growing tribe of fans, the feeling he admits is surreal. As is his journey in filmdom.

Looking back at his first film Vicky Donor, a runaway hit which released exactly 10 years ago (April 20, 2012), a flood of happy memories come rushing back. The first time he faced the camera for the film, his first meeting with director Shoojit Sircar, “I could sense his vibe and the look in his eye told me that he wanted me as a lead and I knew I was in safe hands,” and the very first shot he canned with his co-star Yami Gautam.

Sure, a well established anchor at that point, he wasn’t exactly camera shy but states, “As an anchor you look into the camera and as an actor you have to learn to ignore the camera as well as tone down your histrionics.”

Without a doubt over the years he has evolved as an actor. Gazing at the rushes of Vicky Donor, he has no qualms in admitting, “I was raw back then.”

He has evolved as an actor yet his approach to his character is no less diligent. Of course, for characters that are close to his lived experience, he doesn’t need to work very hard. But for films out of his comfort zone he does go out of the way. Like say for an Andhadhun, he not only learnt the piano, but for acing the blind man act he even wore lenses which impaired his vision by 80 per cent. Then for Article 15, he read up on caste-based discrimination as well as Dr BR Ambedkar. Synonymous with issue-based cinema, he firmly believes, “I will never do a film whose messaging is not right.” Well, he would love to switch genres like he has for two of his forthcoming films—Anek, a political thriller and An Action Hero, both of which he deems ‘genre breakers’.

In An Action Hero about which he wrote on Instagram “Dikkat Bas Ek Hi Hai, Mujhe Ladne Ki Acting Aati Hai, Ladna Nahin,” he plays an action star, who gets into a real life situation where he has to fight. A masala entertainer is ok too, “only it has to be different.”

Whether being different also becomes formulaic at some point, he avers, “Every actor has a staple genre.” Yet, he considers those parts which like say an Andhadhun, Anek and An Action Hero, “away from my statement genre” as most challenging. Whether days of superstars are over or not, this new-age superstar observes, “Scripts are the real superstars. I keep scripts on a pedestal. I am not a selfish actor. I treat every actor in my film as a leading actor. Be it Badhaai Ho or Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, there is a great ensemble in my films.”

Part of some quirky cinema, including the forthcoming Dr G, in which he plays a gynecologist, again challenging a taboo, surprisingly the actor shares he has no quirks in real life.

If one decade in the industry has made him an actor to reckon with, where does he see himself 10 years down the line? Wearing a producer’s hat is very much a possibility. Director’s baton, however, belongs to his other half Tahira Kashyap, who he gushes, is “a natural director, like I am a natural actor.”

Being an actor of several films which evoke empathy for others, he admits has made him a better husband, father, son; rather a better person. Another change that has taken place over the years is that he is less open to others’ opinions and is crystal clear about his choices. Once he may have said success is a lousy teacher but today he reasons, “Success gives you a lot of confidence, lets you have a say in the industry.”

Indeed, acutely aware that you can’t be forever on the top of “a small and temporary space”, he knows how retaining success is no easy task. And he sums up his uphill journey that constantly calls for up-scaling poetically, “Manjil par pahunchna bhi aur wahan khade rahena bhi, bahut mushkil hai bade ho kar bade rehna bhi.”