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HOPE PREZ TRUMP WORKS FOR LGBT IN US: AYUSHMANN
Deep Saxena
National award-winning actor Ayushmann Khurrana reacted for the first time to US president Donald Trump’s tweet, on his latest release ‘Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhan’, at a Hindustan Shikhar Samagam session, in Lucknow, on Saturday.
“It was a surprising tweet. He should work for the LGBT community in his country and for human rights. I hope that the community (in the US) gets support from Donald Trump. He must see our film…unke liye bahut zaroori hai,” said the actor.
Trump had reacted “Great!” to LGBT activist Peter Tatchell’s tweet on Thursday: “India: A new #Bollywood romcom featuring a gay romance is hoping to win over older people, following the decriminalisation of homosexuality. Hurrah (sic)!”
Khurrana’s father is an astrologer and the extra ‘N’ and ‘R’ in his name is his father’s doing. “The extra letters in my name are from my childhood. My father believes in karma more than anything else. He taught us to work hard, not to believe in superstition and to do right. There is no right or wrong time…each time is good just that your timing should be right,” he said during the session.
Khurrana made it big winning Roadies 2004. “Every creative person has latent aggression that you channelise in different media – art or cinema.” For ‘Roadies’, he did sperm donation as a task and soon debuted with ‘Vicky Donor’. He said, “Being an outsider, my debut film was the most important thing for me, else I would not get a second chance. I rejected six films where I was the lead actor though there was no desperation to be a lead actor. I only wished to do something different, which continue to strive to do till date.”
On ‘har bimari ka shafakhana AK’ and doing relatable films, he said, “Some people call me ‘purushon ki Grahshobha’ too for the type of films I do. Most of my films are of small town, middle class problems and mostly set in North India. ‘Andhadhun’ is the only film the climax of which was shot in Poland. The rest of my films have not moved ahead of Haridwar. Probably my films are more relatable to people so people do connect to them and like them. I am in a good space.”
The actor has won a critics award for ‘Andhadhun’ and ‘Article 15’. “I literally asked the directors to let me do those two and this teaches that one should not shy from asking for work. Both, films are very special for me. But, I will say that ‘Article 15’ is my favourite. I learnt a lot from it.” On views as influencer: “Being extreme right or extreme left is not good. I am artiste not activist. I will like to speak with my films, like we did in ‘Article 15’.
Through cinema we can speak our view to a large audience and I will continue to do films on social issues after every twothree films.”
His films have been risky due to its bold subjects and he admits, “I have made my entire career on risks. The day I stop taking risks, my career will be finished. We have so many problems in our country that we are surely not short of issues that can be made into a film.” He wants to do action films too but in a realistic space. Sharing his lessons learnt from success and failure, he said, “Success makes you arrogant and over-confident. Your best friend is your failure…it teaches you a lot. I have learnt a lot from the projects that failed.”
Calling himself a ‘train-ed’ singer, he said, “We used to go to Mumbai by train, gaatebajate, with guitar, dhol and dhapli. We used to have fun and sing and performed on demand too, for which we used to get money. We made a trip to Goa from that earning.”
The actor won the hearts of
AYUSHMANN KHURRANA the audience when he recited his poem ‘Chehre hi mukhaute hain’ and sang his chartbuster song ‘Pani da rang’.
Making a film on social issues like ‘Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhan’:
“Homosexuality is not a disease. ‘Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhan’ is a very relevant film and through comedy we have tried to spread the message as in a small town it’s still a big taboo. We have made it for entertainment but it has a strong message.”
“Mera aisa manna hai ki apni biwi se itna pyaar karo ki pados ki biwi ko bhi aapse pyar ho jaye. I met Tahira (Kashyap Khurrana) at Physics tuition and our chemistry got along well. Later, I came to know both my father and her father were well known to each other and they turned our friendship to ‘rishtedari’ (relation). She really inspires me.”
“It’s only talent which matters. The only benefit is they get a break but they too have to work hard”.
“Social media is a necessary evil. I have survived and thrived on social media.”
On his wife: On star kids: On social media: On Lucknow:
The city is very lucky for me. It has become like a second home to me. I have shot ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ here, ‘Article 15’, ‘Bala’ and (upcoming film) ‘Gulabo Sitabo’.
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It was a surprising tweet. He should work for the LGBT community in his country and for human rights. I hope that the community (in the US) gets support from Donald Trump.
ACTOR