THERE'S A NATURAL CHEMISTRY: AYUSHMANN ON RETEAMING WITH ACTORS

Ayushmann Khurrana says while his hits feature former co-stars, they are careful not to repeat themselves

Since time immemorial, actors – in India and otherwise too – have worked with one another on several occasions. And in most cases, the results have been more than fruitful. The same holds true for Ayushmann Khurrana, whose Bala (2019) co-stars were Yami Gautam (they first worked together in Vicky Donor, 2012) and Bhumi Pednekar (first Dum Laga Ke Haisha, 2015 and then Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, 2017). As in Dream Girl (also 2019), where he teamed up with Annu Kapoor (another ex-Vicky Donor co-star). In his next, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan too, he will share the screen again with Gajraj Rao and Neena Gupta (they had teamed up first in Badhaai Ho, 2018).

Ask the actor if ‘reteaming’ helps and he says, “Surely, there’s some natural chemistry if you have worked with an actor earlier. But in such a situation, I feel the bigger challenge is to ensure that there are no reflections of one’s earlier films. For example, when I was working with Annu Kapoor again [in Dream Girl], we were clear that it shouldn’t remind people of Dr Chhadha and Vicky Arora [from Vicky Donor]. In such cases, what becomes your toughest challenge is that your chemistry should look fresh.”

The main essence, Ayushmann feels, is to paint a “completely new picture”.

“The idea is that the combination shouldn’t remind you of their previous films. In my last release, Bala too, we all [Ayushmann, Bhumi and Yami] tried our best to do that. It helped a lot that the characters were very different. So, while Bhumi played a dark-skinned girl, who is a lawyer and Bala’s childhood buddy, Yami, on the other hand, is his love interest who endorses a fairness cream [in the film]. That way, it helped all of us [in terms of making things look different from the earlier films] that the two girls were poles apart from each other while the guy was suffering from his own complex,” he says.

As far as Ayushmann’s career is concerned, the actor feels “blessed” now that he is scaling new heights. But at the same time, does he feel his successes help others too, who are involved with his films? “Definitely! It undoubtedly has a larger impact because it’s not just the actors, but the crew as well, who benefit. That way, they can also have a credible film on their CV. As for me, more than anything else, it shows people have built a certain trust around me thanks to the content [of his films] and now, the numbers are also showing. But one thing is for sure, it hasn’t been a very meteoric, sudden rise. It started two years back, in 2017 (Bareilly Ki Barfi onwards), and I am glad that I am now taking baby steps towards bigger successes,” he adds.

There’s a natural chemistry if you’ve worked with an actor earlier. But I feel the bigger challenge is to ensure that there are no reflections of one’s earlier films. AYUSHMANN KHURRANA ACTOR