Q A Talking Shop

Ayushmann Khurrana, actor, on careers, acting and movies

Q: If you weren’t acting, what would you have been doing?

A: I have already dabbled in so many roles. I am writing columns now. I started out as a radio presenter, then became a theatre actor, a television anchor and a musician. Now I am an actor. I don’t know what else to do now.

Q: Best movie of all time?

A: Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. I wanted to study at a boarding school because of that film. I always thought I’d have a girlfriend like Devika and then find and end up with an Anjali.

Q: What’s are the best and worst parts about acting?

A: The best is that you can play and be your alter ego. The worst is that you have to press your emotional buttons a bit too often—crying and laughing on cue. It messes you up.

Q: A role that changed your life?

A: In Dum Laga Ke Haisha, my character had a typical male ego. Before the interval, there is a scene when the wife slaps me, and it was my decision to slap her back because I was thinking like a small-town, egoistic guy. It wasn’t me on screen. I became less egoistic after doing that film.