AYUSHMANN KHURRANA
Actor
AYUSHMANN KHURRANA,36
With three Rs 100 crore hits, one National Award and acclaimed films like Badhaai Ho, Andhadhun and Article 15, the actor’s life decision has been vindicated
Since school, Ayushmann Khurrana’s heart lay in creative subjects—music and theatre—and not in numbers. His parents encouraged his penchant for the performing arts on the condition that he didn’t let his grades suffer. But Khurrana also learnt that his interests made him an “aberration” in the eyes of a few. He vividly remembers the day in eighth standard when, as the co-curricular captain of St John’s High School in Chandigarh, he requested his math teacher to excuse three students from class to practise for the annual day function, only to be mocked: “Ayushmann, tum sirf naach gaa hi sakte ho, zindagi mein kuch kar nahin sakte (Ayushmann, you are incapable of doing anything in life except sing and dance).” The statement stung. “I remember crying, but the incident also made me thick-skinned.”
Despite his passion for the arts, Khurrana opted for science in class 11 with the aim to study medicine like his friends. He managed to get a seat to study dentistry at a college in Karnataka, but, he says, “there was a sudden awakening. I had to follow my gut, take up arts and do theatre.” At DAV College, he pursued English Honours and cofounded two theatre groups, Aaghaaz (Urdu for “the beginning) and
Manch Tantra. As part of the former, Khurrana would write and act in street plays and travel with the troupe. “We made skits and satire of socially relevant subjects,” he says. “It helped me to know my country better. The films I do today are essentially an extension of my sensibilities from my theatre days.”
In the final year of his post-graduation in journalism from the School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Khurrana got his first shot at stardom after winning season two of the popular MTV show Roadies (2004). Four years later, he moved to Mumbai to realise his dream of becoming an actor. It wasn’t smooth sailing. “I was part of this daily soap, Ek Thi Rajkumari (Zee Next), and I was not even the lead,” he says. “I used to wonder how I would make a career if I wasn’t even visible?” Khurrana chose to switch to anchoring, landing a job at MTV. “You become known by your own name and not as a character,” he says. The stint also gave him the opportunity to interview actors and learn from their experiences. “I learned that if you are an outsider, you have to make the correct choice with your first film. You cannot fail because there won’t be a second chance,” he adds. Khurrana rejected five films before he settled on Vicky Donor (2012). He would end up sweeping the best newcomer awards that year.
The successful debut, though, didn’t immediately guarantee professional security. After a few flops, a filmmaker even told Khurrana that “you don’t sell”, humiliating him in a roomful of people. Familiar with handling jibes, Khurrana embarked in a new direction. He decided to build his “own niche” than be bound to genres. And he did. Now, with acclaimed films like Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Badhaai Ho, Andhadhun and Article 15 to his credit, three Rs 100 crore hits and a National Award, Khurrana has proven that being the naach-gaana kid wasn’t a bad thing altogether. ■
“If you are an outsider in the film industry, you have to make the correct choice with your first film. You cannot fail because there won’t be a second chance”