EXCLUSIVE: An ECSTATIC Ayushmann Khurrana speaks up as he delivers a box-office HIT with Dream Girl 2: “It’s a big victory for our film that coming in this clutter with Gadar 2 on one side and Jawan on the other, we still survived and did well” 2 : Bollywood News

The ever-smiling Ayushmann Khurrana seemed overjoyed when Bollywood Hungama exclusively met him to speak about the success of his latest release, Dream Girl 2. The actor has had a journey unlike no other. He is a rare actor who one can say has a genre of his own. With Dream Girl 2, he has become the only actor among the young actors to have a comedy franchise of his own, that too, a hit one. Ayushmann spoke about all this and much more.

EXCLUSIVE: An ECSTATIC Ayushmann Khurrana speaks up as he delivers a box-office HIT with Dream Girl 2: “It’s a big victory for our film that coming in this clutter with Gadar 2 on one side and Jawan on the other, we still survived and did well”

Dream Girl 2 opened at a huge Rs. 10.69 crores and has done very well in the subsequent days. How do you feel?
It’s a great feeling of validation that the aam junta has loved the film. It’s a film made for them. It’s my most commercial product yet as far as the grammar of the film is concerned. It is also my biggest opener and hence, I am quite relieved.

The press release sent out on the second day of release stated ‘Ayushmann is super-charged to bring people to theatres with Dream Girl 2, a film that didn’t have any corporate bookings - a trend that had set in the Hindi film industry’. It must have been a high to organically get people to cinemas for Dream Girl 2…
Yes. I don’t want to say much about it. I am bad with numbers, to begin with. I just focus on my craft and the role given to me. And beyond that, it’s people’s film. The universe works for you in a way.

But box office success is quite important. Is that right?
Of course. Nothing is sweeter than box-office success. These kind of films gives you the impetus and encouragement to do the films which you eventually want to do, which is high on content, or middle-of-the-road-cinema. I am known for that.

In fact, recently during FICCI Frames 2023, you addressed the fact there’s an ‘Ayushmann genre’ in Bollywood…
(Smiles) It is. Yeh koi sochi samjhi chaal nahin thi ki aisa koi genre banana hai. I made certain choices in the last 10 years and those choices clicked. People started looking forward to those kinds of films. I am glad it happened as it was an organic process.

For Dream Girl 2, were you on profit sharing, fixed fee or did you go for a hybrid model?
(Laughs) I don’t discuss these things. All I want to say is that I am a producer-friendly actor. The film should do well. Period. Mere liye pehle Saraswati aati hai. Baad mein Lakshmi aayegi!

What’s the most memorable feedback that you received for Dream Girl 2?
The most memorable feedback is that I have managed to play two entirely different embodiments with Pooja as a woman and Karam as an alpha male. These two characters are so diametrically opposite to each other that it was fun playing them as an actor. That is quite gratifying.

Before the release of Dream Girl (2019), you said, “It's only now that (my wife Tahira Kashyap Khurrana) calls me a brave actor. She thinks I have done a great job in this film. Otherwise, she's critical of my work”. What was her reaction after watching Dream Girl 2?
She found me very pretty (smiles). I always told her that my competition is Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi and Hema Malini. She used to laugh it off. But when she saw the film, she told me that I had nailed it. She said, ‘You have created a benchmark for male actors to act as a female’.

Which was the most difficult scene for you in the film?
The toughest part is to dance like a girl. If you are standing as a girl and making expressions, it is doable. But with dance, there’s a chance that you might probably get caught that it’s a guy who’s playing a girl. So, the two songs, ‘Jamunapaar’ and ‘Mai Marjawangi’ were the toughest because we needed to be so sure that I was looking and performing as a girl.

Dream Girl 2 also pays tribute to Gadar 2…
The work on the background score was going on when Gadar 2 was released. The song ‘Main Nikla Gaddi Leke’ was a last-minute addition to the film. And yes, it was a tribute to Gadar. As soon as Shahrukh started to chase Pooja, it was like a laugh riot in theatres. Also, it was topical. A lot of things in the film were topical.

Including the usage of the song ‘Naiyo Lagda’ from Salman Khan-starrer Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan (2023)…
Yes. That too.

Gadar 2 is doing historic business. Many in the trade were commenting that Dream Girl 2 should be postponed. Did this thought occur to you or anyone in the team?
Never. We had already changed the release date before as a lot of VFX work was going on. We couldn’t have shifted it further. At the same time, OMG 2 was doing well alongside Gadar 2 and yet, we decided to come after two weeks. It’s a big victory for our film that coming in this clutter with Gadar 2 on one side and Jawan on the other, we still survived and did well.

Before Dream Girl 2, you gave 4 theatrical flops. What was going on in your mind while promoting this film?
There was a lot of learning in the past two years. The kind of content that I was doing did really well pre-pandemic. After the pandemic, there was this notion that only big films would survive. My films are never big in terms of budgeting. My films are mid-budget small films with big content. But now the wave has suddenly changed in the last three months. Now, mid-budget and small-budget films are working. So, I am so glad this has happened. I was also glad when Zara Hatke Zara Bachke and Satyaprem Ki Katha made money. It made me confident that Dream Girl 2 will do well. Even Gadar 2 and OMG 2 are not big-budget films. They are also mid-budget. So, the success of these films gave me confidence that my kind of films will work again in theatres. Until last year, it was said that such movies would only work on OTT. It’s also the timing. Probably, if Doctor G or An Action Hero had released now, (they) would have done better.

In fact, in my opinion, things were improving even last year, albeit gradually. Doctor G came during pre-Diwali and had an ‘A’ certificate. Yet, it opened better than Jayeshbhai Jordaar, Runway 34 and Jersey. This year, its opening day number would have been more…
Definitely.

An Action Hero (2022) sadly suffered, and no one knows why. To date, I haven’t come across anyone who claimed to have disliked the film…
(Smiles) It’s a learning experience. Sometimes, the release date is not in your hands. You choose a date, stick to it and the rest is in the hands of the public. Now, the time is right for all kinds of films to thrive.

What is the game plan for you now? Will you go by your instincts like you have always done or would there be a shift in your strategy?
I want to do wider films for a wider audience. Of course, I can never leave quirk! It will always be a part of me. I may leave taboo as it restricts the audience sometimes. But I’ll never leave quirk or the novelty. And they’ll carry forward my genre for sure.

You mean the ‘Ayushmann genre’, right?
(Smiles) Woh filmein karne ke liye aapko Dream Girl type ki filmein karni padti hai. For example, Article 15 (2019) and Andhadun (2018) did well as I had the backing of a Badhaai Ho (2018) or Dream Girl.

In an interview, you said that you would love to play a desi Joker. It’ll be apt as the character is quirky…
Aisi script milni chahiye. And indeed, Joker is intrinsically quirky. So, if I get a chance to do a grey or negative character, as quirky as Joker, I’d love to do it.

You once wrote ‘Bachpan me papa ki lagayi hui pabandiyo ko todne me bada maza aata tha, par bade hokare khud pe lagayi hui pabandiyaan todi nahin jaati’. What are your current self-imposed pabandiyaan?
It’s to maintain discipline. Artists don’t like discipline! They don’t like doing a 9 to 5 job. The best part about being an artist is that you get to play a different character and live a different story with every film. But to be a successful artist, you have to be disciplined. It’s such a dichotomy. For example, as a writer, you might not get ideas every day. After probably sleeping well or listening to a good song, or being in a good mood, you might get ideas. But you can’t always depend on that. You still need to write. For that, you need discipline. Hence, throughout your life, you’ll be going through that dichotomy and conflict in your head. Wohi paabandiyaan alag hi hai.

You once also said ‘I can live without a girlfriend or wife. But I can't live without a cook’. What is the importance of a cook in your life?
Yeh tab ki baat thi jab main naya naya Mumbai mein aaya tha. Now, I can’t live without my family for sure (laughs)!

What are your birthday plans?
I am not a birthday person. I don’t excited on my birthdays. I guess I’ll spend quality time with my close friends and family.

What next?
There are two exciting projects in the pipeline, which haven’t been officially announced.

Will it be in the ‘Ayushmann genre’?
Not really. Thoda alag hai (smiles).

Also Read: Ayushmann Khurrana on Dream Girl 2: “Seeing my work being appreciated and loved by the audiences is my reward”