Ayushmann Khurrana has scored the biggest box-office opening of his career with Dream Girl 2. The spiritual sequel to the 2019 film Dream Girl, which also starred the actor, has cruised into the Rs 100-crore club based on worldwide collections. t2 caught up with Ayushmann for a chat on the success of the film and more.

Congratulations on scoring your biggest box-office opener with Dream Girl 2....

Ayushmann and Tabu in Andhadhun

After a two-year lull for the industry because of the pandemic, this is a welcome period. I was confident that Dream Girl 2 would find many takers, but I had no idea that it would become my biggest opener.

It is a great time to release movies in the theatres. In the last three months, the tide has changed in favour of theatrical releases. We are riding a solid wave right now and Dream Girl 2 also gained from that.

When films were not working in theatres, there was this constant talk that only big-budget films would work. But then small and mid-budget films suddenly started working from the middle of the year and then I got the confidence that this is the time when my kind of films will work. Films that are made on a controlled budget and are high on content. It’s a happy change.

What is the best compliment that you got for Dream Girl 2?

A lot of praise has come in for my performance. For 60-70 per cent of the film, I was playing Pooja and that has never happened in any of my previous films. So I think that divide between the two characters — the alpha masculine Karam and Pooja, who was the embodiment of femininity. The audience liked the stark difference between the two. It was also quite challenging for me as an actor to play these two characters and the praise from the audience came in as huge validation for me. Nothing is sweeter than box-office success. It empowers me to make choices that are away from my core strengths.

Dream Girl 2 also packs in a message but is predominantly a comic entertainer. Does the audience always expect that an Ayushmann Khurrana film will come in with some sort of social commentary?

That’s a very natural way of assuming things with my films because a large part of my filmography has put a certain message across. But after the pandemic, times have changed and if an actor is aiming for a theatrical release, one needs to have a wider palette in mind. With Dream Girl 2, we went in for frontbencher, massy comedy. The grammar of the film is very different from everything that I have done before. It’s meant for a different kind of audience, probably the single-screen audience or those who prefer commercial, massy films. We were very sure about our target audience and I am glad we reached there. It just widens my audience base and in the future, when I make progressive cinema, it will reach out to a larger section of people. It’s very important to have that box-office number.

Congratulations on the award for the ‘Most Disruptive Brand’ from the International Advertising Association. How much does it validate the choices that you make?

I have always chosen the road less travelled and that is never easy. With every film, I attempt something different, which is a rarity in Hindi cinema. I have always questioned the rules of Bollywood and I have always chosen the unconventional route.

This award is a reflection of the choices I have made with my films and that shows up in the brands that I endorse. I have some 20-plus brands in my kitty. I am fortunate to work with pathbreaking content creators.

Is there a film of yours that may not have done well when it released but one which has now acquired a following?

That would be Doctor G and An Action Hero, which released during the pandemic. They were underrated at the box office but got a lot of love on OTT. These kinds of films age well. Even a film like Meri Pyaari Bindu.

Is there a particular genre that you are keen to try out?

I haven’t done a character which is negative or even has grey shades. I would love to play a character like the Joker.

Is there any particular film which viewers really want to see a sequel of?

A lot of people ask for a sequel to Andhadhun. But it is completely (director) Sriram Raghavan’s prerogative; it is his brainchild. If he comes up with a sequel as quirky and as eccentric as Andhadhun, I would love to go ahead.

Priyanka Roy
What makes Ayushmann a disruptive brand? Tell t2@abp.in