The poster boy of disruptive cinema in India, Ayushmann Khurrana, is surely having an incredibly exciting time in the industry. The young Bollywood star has delivered some landmark performances and is now all set for his next release “Anek”.
Anubhav Sinha’s “Anek” aims to deliver a progressive message to Indians about the need to celebrate inclusivity and diversity. In an exclusive interview with, Ayushmann told what appealed to him about the film and his character ‘Joshua’.
Ayushmann said that it was the subject, the director and the script that made him say yes to ‘Anek’. I think this represents the new age cinema where it says something to the society and people at large and I guess this is something which is very important and it is my second collaboration with Anubhav Sinha. I have always believed in him as a director.
If there were any inhibitions regarding the role or the script, the ‘Vicky Donor’ fame actor said, not at all, in fact we jammed on the subject when we were shooting for ‘Article 15’ and we were very keen to explore this side.
The actor also talked about how he had the knowledge of the discrimination faced by the people of Northeast, while he was studying in a college in Chandigarh.
I only had the knowledge of the discrimination to be fair. When I was in college, I had friends from Northeast — my band members, my classmates so I could see that they were little uncomfortable with certain groups of people over there who used to discriminate, used racial slurs, he said.
But the politics was a revelation that how deep-rooted the different cultures, or maybe there is a political turmoil going on in Northeast so I think that was new to me. So I got to know about it when I was doing the film and I came to know it was so complex, Ayushmann said. The ‘Andhadhun’ star is fondly called the ‘King of Content’, when asked how he feels about it, he said, I feel validated with it. It feels great you know, name a certain genre on me something like that it’s a validation and acknowledgement from the audience but again there is pressure but just to create content every single time, something new, give something different to the audience in every single outing of mine.
If the pressure increases with every project, Ayushmann said, It does, but it’s a privilege I think. Being under pressure or expectation is a privilege. Because people expect something out of you so I will take it like that. So it is a happy pressure.
‘Anek’ is shot in Meghalaya and Assam. When asked about his experience and what would he like to tell people who haven’t visited the region, Ayushmann said, The good thing is that it is already a major tourist destination now. Places like Gangtok in Sikkim, Kaziranga National Park in Assam, and Shillong, Arunachal — people love going there. People from mainland go there for holidays and vacations. This is the picnic season right now. It has increased.
The more people to people contact will really help to make them understand that sometimes you just callously say something to people of Northeast, you should not be using those words and name calling. So I think that awareness will generate only when you go to those place and see how warm these people are, he said.
Talking about the memory of NE he has during the shoot of the film, Ayushmann said, I have played a lot of cricket with the locals, went on the safari. Andrea (co-star) introduced me to Jadoh (Khasi delicacy) which is very delicious. These are the memories I have of the Northeast.
When asked how he sees his career graph right now, Ayushmann told it’s very exciting. We are in exciting times where every kind of film is working. It is the time where you know audience has become more global in nature.
“Every kind of film has gone beyond languages. Films from Hollywood are doing well, films from South are doing well so that is the crux of the film also. It goes beyond the language or ethnicity or culture. I think entertainment business is surviving because of that right now. It has become more global in nature.
Ayushmann has teamed up with Anubhav after their big success with ‘Article 15’. Produced by Bhushan Kumar and Anubhav Sinha under Benaras Media Works and T-Series, ‘Anek’ was released in the theatres on May 27. The movie stars Andrea Kevichusa, Manoj Pahwa and Kumud Mishra in pivotal roles.
Ayushmann has a stellar line up of films in 2022. Apart from ‘Anek’, he will also be seen in Anubhuti Kashyap’s ‘Doctor G’ and film-maker Aanand L. Rai’s ‘Action Hero’ being directed by debutant Anirudh Iyer.
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