Ayushmann Khurrana talks about film Jawan, his father & success of Dream Girl 2
Ayushmann Khurrana gets candid on the success of his latest release Dream Girl 2. In regard to his success, the actor also remembers his father and Ayushmann, who is a true SRKian, talks about his excitement for Jawan. Let’s take at the excluisve chat with the actor. Ayushmann Khurrana is on cloud 9 for his film Dream Girl 2. Directed by Raaj Shaadilyaa, it also stars Ananya Panday, Paresh Rawal, Vijay Raaz, Seema Pahwa and Asrani among others.
Ayushmann: If I look at Twitter also, I read a tweet. A girl had written that earlier there was less competition among girls and now Ayushmann Khurrana has also come.
Question: How difficult is it to create a different path and a different identity?
Ayushmann: It was very important to choose a different path to make my mark. I tied myself to all these things. It was a winding path but a fun path. Especially the actor gets a lot to do, like Pooja’s character which she has played before in Dream Girl 2, you get a chance to get into some different story or character. But Dream Girl 2 was the most challenging for me.
It’s all a game of connection. I think if you are given a script, if you don’t give it your hundred percent, it means you are not doing your work honestly. Dream Girl 2 will give you complete satisfaction. Be it the character of Karma or Pooja. And people had to really believe that Pooja is really a girl, a beautiful girl. And he has so many lovers. Despite the comedy and errors, it’s still funny.
Question: Today, when you see your fans reacting to you, what touches you the most?
Ayushmann: I have some fan clubs on Twitter and Insta. Many people are students and many people have formed fan clubs for a long time and they support me at every turn. They support my film Chale Na Chale the most. And I think this honesty and this love is what encourages me the most. And these people stand with you at every turn, so I think it is very touching. And the box office of Dream Girl 2, I think it is very overwhelming because it has always tried to do something different and what it has done differently is that it has stuck with the masses and has reached more people. The audience has become wide with this film and it is a matter of great gratitude.
Question: Have you caught the films of both the places?
Ayushmann: This Dream Girl 2 is for the intelligent audience. And they will also be laughing because comedy is comedy, it means leave your mind at home, come to the theater and enjoy comedy. And everything is full of comedy in our film. And this one team of ours became good and Raj is the genius of comedy.
Question: After Dream Girl 2, the preparations for Dream Girl 3 must be going on?
Ayushmann: It’s his crazy mind and his mind will come up with 3 as well but before that I want to say that a film like Dream Girl 2 is important for me so that I can do my core genre films with an open heart. So you get the strength to do films, your audience increases, you get box office, you get courage.
Question: Ayushmann, your first day collection has been 10.69 crores, which is the biggest opening of your career, meaning you have come forward by beating the first?
Ayushmann: First 10 plus opening was of Dream Girl and then it was Bala. And now Dream Girl 2 has broken that record too. And I don’t think about all this when I sign films but at the time of Dream Girl 2 I thought that it would cross Rs 100 crore. Because this film can be commercial.
Ekta also had the same confidence, Raj also had the same confidence and I also had the same confidence that if it reaches our mass audience then this film can go anywhere.
Question: There was a phase when your films did not work and perhaps that phase was very difficult for the industry, so how did you overcome it?
Ayushmann: It was probably a matter of habit for some time when the audience used to go out to watch big budget films and this year the audience is coming out again and going to theaters and at that time the whole industry was going through this phase. . And in the last 3 months, people’s habits have changed, people want to see Walking on the big screen again and this is a very good thing.
Question: In every phase new people come, like Ranbir became Ranveer, you became yourself, when the films of all three of you come, people believe in them. So how does Ayushmann maintain that belief?
Ayushmann: There are very simple boxes which I tick as if this is the first film which has never been made. There should be something new in the story and the director should be good. Could keep the audience captivated for 2 hours. If there are such films then I will do them even if the director is new. I have worked with many new directors, I have done more than half of my films with new directors and if you yourself become an audience and read the script, then you will be able to choose it better.
Question: Whose validation do you need first and most?
Ayushmann: I feel that family is more important than validation, I would like to make such a film that people will be happy after watching it even after 20 or 30 years. Self-validation is more important. You fix your own benchmark and try to give 100% to every character. And the most important is the validation of the audience because you are creating for them, so if there is no validation from them then there is no use. If you don’t understand the public by doing so many films then there is no use.
Question: How did your mother feel? How did she react?
Ayushmann: She likes everything. Whatever her son does, she will like it. She is a mother at heart. His love is blind for me. Rest, my brother, my wife is critical, my manager is critical and the friends around me are very critical.
Question: You used to show all your films to your father and perhaps this is the first film which came after his death.
Ayushmann: Yes, I miss him a lot, he was the validation that mattered most to me.
I feel that whatever I have done since childhood till today has been done only to please my father. After his departure, I wondered from where would I get the motivation to prove myself. I feel that he is here, his blessings are with me and that is why my film is working today.
Question: You are the eldest son of the family, so what kind of responsibility has come upon you now?
Ayushmann: The good thing is that my mother lives with us in Mumbai and now a new world has been created for her in Mumbai. For the first time, he has made friends on his own strength. Otherwise, because of his father, he used to make friends and his friends used to have wives. He has friends in our society. He has created an identity for himself. And she is blossoming in a different way because we were from a traditional family and she has got good support in Mumbai. Talking about responsibility, now she is the head of the family. Why is it always necessary for the boys to become the head? Why do we always give this responsibility to the elder son or both the sons? Can also become a woman. So she is the head of my family.
Question: If four of your films have been remade in the South, how do you view it?
Ayushmann: I have always supported original content. And in the South I think four of my films have been made, Vicky Donor, Badhaai Ho, Article 15 and Andhadhun. And people are also thinking for action hero. So this was one that has been a very good validation. Because professionalism is very important in the South industry and when I go to the South, they look at me with respect because original content matters a lot to them too. And I always try to do something new.
Question: Have you seen the trailer of Shah Rukh Khan?
Ayushmann: I think I will watch the picture on Sunday. I won’t be able to see the first one, but maybe I will see it on Sunday, who knows, I will request Shahrukh sir to see it even before that.
Question: How much time do you give to your songs?
Ayushmann: Song hai ek film mein ki main mar jawangi iss a reprise version mera aa raha hai gaana ko iss baar mein mostly dena chaunga apart from filmitna dena nahi paata hu. But I hear everyday, there is scope to do a lot of Riyaz in life. It is possible only for 10 minutes in the morning, but if you want to become a good singer, then one hour of Riyaz is necessary in the day. But the concerts keep happening to me.
Question: One thing about your father that inspires you?
Ayushmann: I think music and talent and he used to be very strict with me in my childhood, so he taught me a lot about discipline too.