Ayushmann Khurrana: The man who dared to explore and experiment!

There’s hardly anything Ayushmann Khurrana hasn’t dabbled with! From being a Roadies contestant to a Video Jockey to even a Film Critic, the man has been all! But it was his crackling debut in Shoojit Sircar’s Vicky Donor in 2012 that shot him to fame. When most of the debutantes in Hindi Cinema prefer to splash on the celluloid with ripped muscles, chiseled chests and awe-inspiring torso, Khurrana allowed his small-town ordinariness and fluid demeanor to take the center-stage. A comedy about sperm donation, which was unheard of before the movie came out, Bollywood was gifted with an actor who could not only shine in slice-of-life comedies but also sing, pen lyrics and also compose music!

As it’s inevitable in a profession as trembling as this, he delivered three duds in a row- Nautanki Saala, Bewakoofiyaan and Hawaizaada. Despite oozing sincerity and earnestness in all the three roles, the films failed to leave a lasting impression and none of the characters struck a chord as fantastically as his first film.

It was Sharat Katariya ‘s Dum Laga Ke Haisha in 2015, which put him back to the pedestal. A tale of a hapless, helpless husband, who’s chained to his obese wife and a loveless marriage, Khurrana made the frustrations and fragility of a rural family’s forcefulness both palpable and comical. Showcasing a sparkling performance, the actor proved he could be molded into the rustic flavor as effortlessly as he could stand out in modern-day comedies.

Reuniting with his co-star from the above film, Bhumi Pednekar, it was time for the actor to explore erectile dysfunction, and how it can threaten to crumble a couple’s romantic liaison and sexual gratification, in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan. Unflinchingly breaking the stereotypes of a Hindi film hero’s masculinity, the actor proved a man who dares to explore a bold subject is as much of a hero as the one who romances the heroines and fights the baddies on the big screen.

He’s currently gearing up for Sriram Raghavan’s pulpy thriller AndhaDhun and Amit Sharma’s quirky comedy Badhaai Ho, both of which open at the cinemas within a gap of mere two weeks. Given how he has been surprising the audiences with esoteric subjects and fascinating stories, we cannot wait for Khurrana to excite and stimulate us yet again!

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