‘WHAT USED TO BE CONVENTIONAL IS NOW UNSAFE’

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana says he is proud of his quirky, outofthebox choices which have clicked with audiences repeatedly

Right from his big screen debut, Vicky Donor (2012), Ayushmann Khurrana has been surprising audiences as well as critics with his out-of-thebox film choices. In fact, the actor feels he “owns the zone” of quirky, slice-of-life films. “I have a ready audience for that,” says Ayushmann, who turned 34 on September 14, as he opens up about birthdays, his life, career and more.

You didn’t have a big birthday bash, but would you call yourself a birthday person?

Not at all! I treat my birthdays like any other day, when I just want to be myself. I feel, after being constantly in the public eye, you yearn for that solitude with yourself. Maybe if I wasn’t an actor, I would have been a ‘birthday person’. I don’t even like birthday parties. Instead, I love small get-togethers with my family. That’s also because I hardly get to spend time with them. On my birthdays, I don’t want to do anything. This year, too, I was at home the entire day, doing nothing (laughs).

You recently said that not playing safe has worked for you as an actor…

I think playing conventional [parts] is unsafe now. We have reached a point in the film industry where vanilla won’t sell, so something different and novel has to be done. Whatever we used to call safe or conventional is actually unsafe, so we have to give something different to the audiences. It’s also because the digital medium is prospering a lot and people have a lot of options — they don’t have to spend money to watch something in the digital space. But if they are spending money to come to the theatre, they have to be given something different.

Your wife, author Tahira Kashyap, is set to make her debut as a director. Excited? Would you be starring in her film?

The casting process is still going on, but I don’t think I am starring in her film (smiles). I think I am more excited than her, because as partners, you share each other’s dreams and are there for each other’s happiness, ambitions and achievements. I am glad that this is happening and that she is collaborating with a credible bunch of people. She has written a wonderful script and they start shooting in February.

This is your sixth year in the industry. Would you call it a smooth ride so far?

It’s been a very fruitful journey. I am having a lot of fun, and I feel, as an artist, you should have fun. Otherwise, there’s no point [in doing anything]. I am content with the way things have panned out for me. More importantly, I am proud of the kind of choices I have made. What’s heartening is that they have clicked with the audiences as well. I just want to take things forward in my own way. I can only be thankful and have lots of gratitude for all of this.

PHOTO: ABHEET GIDWANI