CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF AYUSHMANN KHURRANA
Little anecdotes from the actor’s unusual, but muchloved, filmography
2011 Vicky Donor
While shooting, I remember I came up with the line,
Kothe utte beh ke ankhiyan milounde—that stanza of Pani
Da Rang I had written while I was sitting on a chhath in Subhash Nagar in Delhi where we were shooting. And it was this eureka! moment in my life: oh my god, I cracked one stanza!
2015 Dum Laga Ke Haisha
We had a body double to lift Bhumi to take the top shots and the foot shots, so that I wouldn’t be over-stressed. I had a 103 fever, but the body double couldn’t lift her and run! It was crazy; I weighed around 67 kgs that time and Bhumi was close to 90, and I had to pick her up and run. I had to do all the shots!
2018 Badhaai Ho
I suggested Gajraj Rao’s name for the film. I did this sketch with him for TVF [a YouTube channel] and I really liked him, found him so endearing. So, when they were trying to figure out the casting for my father’s role, I was absolutely rooting for him and I’m glad he did that role.
2018 Andhadhun
It was fun shooting on the sly. During Andhadhun, we were shooting in Pune and a lot of it was guerilla shots. I used to go out with my walking stick and sunglasses; they’d hide the camera somewhere in the car and shoot me. Before people could realise it was me, we would just pack up!
2019 Bala
Shooting that film in 45 degrees was crazy because I had to wear a skull cap and that sweat used to bother me. I couldn’t even scratch my head because it would tear the skull cap. It used to take me two and a half hours to get ready with all the prosthetics!
2019 Dream Girl
We tried a lot of voiceover artists for the female voice, but we weren’t convinced. Even Raaj (Shaandilyaa, the director) was like, “kuch alag karte hai.” So, we went into the studio and I dubbed every single word and line separatelyinmyownvoice.Saying entire sentences in a female voice is hard; it’s not easy to maintain that throughout, so we dubbed eachandeverywordinmyvoice.
2019 Article 15
We only shot during the ‘magic hours’—early morning and evenings just before ‘golden hour’. We hardly shot under the harsh sun because that was the kind of look that Anubhav Sinha and cameramancinematographer, Ewan Mulligan, were going for. It was a very uniquely-shot film for me because I’d never worked like that. I normally do 10-12hour shifts, but here we were working just six hours a day, so we’d chill and play cricket. It was good fun.
2021 Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui
Oh my god—what crazy workouts I had—totally not me. I mean, I love going to the gym, but not like that! It was a lockdown baby for me; I had so much time on my hands, so I was just working out, eating right, sleeping on time—it was easy because I had all the time in life.
Other Ayushmann Khurrana movies not listed above: Nautanki Saala, 2013 Bewakoofiyaan, 2014 Hawaizaada, 2015
Meri Pyari Bindu, 2017 Bareilly Ki Barfi, 2017
Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan, 2017 Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhaan,
Gulabo Sitabo, 2020
NOW THE CHALLENGE IS HOW TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY, MAYBE DISCOVER MORE GENRES FOR MYSELF” —AYUSHMANN KHURRANA, ACTOR
He’s yet to play an anti-hero in any of his films though, something he’s definitely open to. True to form though, he adds the caveat, ”It’s just that the messaging should be correct. I’m okay being negative, but the messaging of the film should be right. I’ll never do a role that makes a hero out of a villain.”
WHAT COMES NEXT?
“Apni manzil pe pahunchna bhi, khade rahna bhi, kitna mushkil hai, bade ho ke bade rahne bhi (How difficult it is to reach your destination, to even stand there, to achieve something and remain an achiever),” quotes Ayushmann when asked about what the next decade has in store for him.”I’m too practical to plan for the next 10 years or five years,” he says. “I plan one day at a time. But I will say that in 10 years, I’ll be more than just an actor. I’ll probably produce in the future, maybe write a script or direct—something related to this field.”
He does, however, know which directors he’d like to work with next, for the time being. “I would love to work with Raju Hirani! And Rohit Shetty and Zoya Akhtar,” he exclaims, leaving one in little doubt that he’ll make it happen.