Ayushmann Khurrana: “Never Thought I Was Going To Break Records”

Ayushmann Khurrana is on cloud nine. He is presently basking in the huge success of his seventh consecutive hit Bala (2019) which features him in the role of a young man experiencing premature balding. Besides him, the film also stars Bhumi Pednekar and Yami Gautam in lead roles. The rising star is busy smashing one record after another, including the one of yesteryear superstars’ Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan who had to their credits several hits in a row.

“I never thought of it this way. My focus is on doing the kind of films that have not been attempted before. I never thought I was going to break records. I was choosing from the films that were being offered to me. I did the films that I did because I had no other choices. I never set out to be a non-conformist. Let me tell you, I loved singing and dancing in Dream Girl,” says Ayushmann Khurrana.

The actor goes on to reveal that he hugged director Amar Kaushik when he narrated the script of the film to him. “I remember, I was so moved by the story I hugged the director. I don’t know if Bala is my best film to date, but it is certainly my most collaborative effort. The director, Amar Kaushik, and I were constantly exchanging notes, working out character-defining details. I made the suggestion about my character being a Shah Rukh Khan fan since I can mimic SRK very comfortably,” he says.

Reacting to the plagiarism controversy which erupted as soon as the project was officially announced, Ayushmann Khurrana explains, “That was so uncalled for. I never saw that coming. I had been offered several films on baldness, but I chose the script that I liked best. What was so wrong about that? There are so many films on the theme of baldness. Some time ago, there was a film called Gone Kesh. There is Bengali and Oriya film on the theme too. There can’t be any copyright on baldness. Even my Bala director Amar Kaushik is bald,” he says in conclusion.