Ayushmann Khurrana Believes Even After Section 377's Decriminalization, Society Is Yet To Accept Change
Ayushmaan Khurrana also talks about how stardom is affecting his choices of films.
Ayushmaan Khurrana, who is at the top of his game right now, is in no mood to slow down when it comes to choosing relatable and taboo subjects. He believes he will never fall short of rare and normal subjects and one of them is Shubh Mangal Zyaada Savdhaan.
The actor will be seen playing homosexual in this film and believes a mainstream film on this subject is the need of the hour.
In an interaction, when asked how sensitively he is handling Shubh Mangal Zyaada Savdhaan, and he said, ¡°The director has done his research. He studied in NIT Ahmedabad and one of his professors is homosexual, so he was in touch with him constantly to write the script, so he is on the right track¡±.
When asked personally how he is taking the film, Ayushmann said, ¡°Of course, I have a lot of friends who are homosexual and I interact with them. There are lots of stuff that you don¡¯t even know, like how they operate, they have these closed circles. 377 is abolished but at the same time acceptance is not there, so you need a mainstream film and Shubh Mangal Savdhaan will do that.¡±
Apart from this topic, he spoke about how carefully he is choosing his films especially after back to back success, ¡°Successful films reflect on your stardom for sure. You get less time with your family, people start seeing you in a different light, National Award is also there it gives you a another credibility, but at the same time, it is difficult to choose topics which are rare and normal. I am glad you are born in a country which is full of taboo subjects. Our country is full of conservative and progressive people, so when they meet together that¡¯s when comedy emanates¡±.
He further added, ¡°There are people who are regressive and progressive, so it¡¯s a very bizarre situation in the country where 70 percent of our nation is in primary sector or rural areas and when they migrate to urban cities, they get to see this cultural shock. When they see woman smoking or behave in a certain way, which according to them is not right, so that¡¯s how cinema gets fodder from these kinds of situations. Bala for example, there is one definition of beauty which is followed across the nation that the guy has to be tall, has to have good hair or the girl should be fair. We need to challenge this definition of beauty and that¡¯s what we have done in Bala. The aspiration will always be to choose normal and different subjects and our country is full of that¡±, he added.
When asked if he has pressure that his film should do better than the other, he accepted it and said, ¡° That¡¯s always there and you have to touch that benchmark every single time and there is a pressure but its a happy pressure, because the success gives you more confidence and courage to become the risk-taker. At the same time I want to take it easy now, because my line up for the next year is ready with Gulaabo Sitaabo and Shubh Mangal Zyaada Savdhaan, so two releases are there and now I am reading scripts. So maybe I will have two releases next year or three, I don¡¯t know, let¡¯s see how it goes. I am not jumping into it as of now.¡±
When quizzed how liberating is to for him to redefine heroism in the industry, he said, ¡°The idea is to discover your own space, it took me a while to discover myself, like after Vicky Donor success I discovered that this is my zone. I just consolidated that and played on my strength and once in a while I can probably change my zone, like my zone is slice of life, quirky, taboo films, but once in a while I will venture out in films like Andhadhun or Article 15. The idea is to have that space and consolidate on that. I am glad that I started with Vicky Donor.
He even added, "Also, I was not the original choice for Article 15 or Andhadhun, I had to convince the directors that I can do that. I have to go to directors that I can do such films, or an action or a grey character film. Nobody writes such scripts for me.¡±
When asked him he ever had an outsider complex, he said, ¡° I remember during my first film, I was a lost cub, I had no idea what is happening, there was nobody to guide me, I have learned everything on my own. There was no one who thought of me. I had no outsider complex, but yes I was lost and I think I found myself and I think that¡¯s what worked for me.¡±
It¡¯s not easy to handle the stardom but Ayushmann has found his way to deal with it, ¡° Stardom by default makes you the opinion leader and puts you in the pedestal and they expect you to give an opinion on everything and at the same time stardom is also treading thin line between contentment and ambition for you own sanity. You cannot completely be contend otherwise you won¡¯t be excited to work. You have to tread a middle part, just be sane. ¡°
Ayushmann Khurrana is definitely the most relatable and celebrated actor right now.
