Ayushmann Khurrana’s 10-year career in Bollywood was decided by the 6 movie offers he turned down

It was very important for me to play this character, that of a stereotypical alpha guy, who is stupid and oblivious, because he represents the ordinary guy on the streets in India”, confesses the actor. “How his emotional transformation happens in the film is central to the film. I was born and raised in Chandigarh, so I know this city and I know the people. And I’ve done street theater and radio, so I know people who are like Mannu. I’ve had a very varied lifestyle, I’ve also been on a cricket team, so I’ve been exposed to people from all walks of life, and I’ve met those people who don’t know and think their physics is above all. Mannu comes from this mindset. In fact, back then when I was in school and college, there was hardly any acceptance for the (LGBTQA+) community at that time. But we all learn as we grow up. Then I moved to Mumbai for my first job, I interacted with people in the community and empathy grew in me. Sure, it was a gradual process, but I’m quite a different person now.

Since his very first film (Vicky Donor), Ayushmann has been an actor who has chosen content-driven films and stuck to them. Doesn’t he think that limits him as an actor and in the choice of films? The 37-year-old actor says it comes naturally to him to make movies with risky subjects.

Ayushmann said, I think it will always be difficult. I started my film career with a risky subject. I have always taken risks, I have no other choice. And, it is very difficult to find good scripts, and it is more than difficult to find a script known as a content script that still resonates with the masses and has a wider reach.

That said, some experiments are in sight. My next one is an action movie, it’s called Action Hero, and I’m learning MMA (mixed martial arts) for it and it’s going to be a big challenge for me because it’s a genre breaker for me. Even Anek for that matter, along with Anubhav Sinha, is also a gender breaker. So anything outside of my comfort zone is a challenge. That said, I won’t stop doing social comedies or dramas because that’s the core of my filmography. And, that’s very important to me because I come from a street theater background that used to do plays about social issues, and that’s just an extension of that personality.

Revisiting his first choice, his first film – Vicky Donor – Ayushmann shared that even before he could join films, he had already rejected six films. “So what choice did I have left? the actor asks factually.

Khurrana actions, you will be surprised. I was a VJ (video jockey) at the time and got a lot of offers as an actor, and I already had a sad no to six movies, before I even made my debut. Of course, they weren’t big movies, they were with very vanilla themes and concepts, death topics. So there was this urge in me to do something different and lead the way. I wanted to address concepts that weren’t explored. I am happy that Shoojit Sircar trusted me and came up with such an innovative subject and made it a family movie. It paved the way for me and I thought movies are a great way to spark social change and start conversations.

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Emphasizing the need for films to have subjects that are important and yet for the masses, Ayushmann says: If you make a very specialized film for an awakened audience, there will be no change. Change can only happen if you take this subject out into the realm of a commercial cinema. Only this can usher in change, otherwise it becomes an inside joke.

The kind of films I look forward to are films that prepare for transformation because cinema plays a big role in transforming society,” adds Ayushmann.

About the responsibility it bears, it’s great because no one thought these kinds of movies could be turned into theater or garner praise from audiences and critics. These films were critically acclaimed at the time. Now they’ve gone mainstream, and I think that’s a big win for this kind of cinema that we call ‘in-between’ cinema. They’re somewhere in between, they have great subject matter, they’re well executed, and they still have commercial film tropes, and I think that’s why these films are called “middle of the road” cinema.