On India's 74th Republic Day today, Ayushmann Khurana tells The Telegraph what his idea of India is and what the day means to him.

Growing up, January 26 meant a holiday from school and watching the Republic Day programme on TV. What did it mean to you then and what does it mean now?

Republic Day, for me, meant watching the parade on Doordarshan and giving our own rankings and marks to all the floats from the different states. My mother used to be really excited because she is from Delhi and she has seen all these floats live as a child. And that excitement, of course, rubbed off on us and we too used to get excited. We used to watch every single programme on TV - Indian Airforce, Army, Navy and all the state floats.

If you had to describe what India means to you in a sentence, what would it be?

For me, India is an idea of togetherness... like we see unity in diversity. Diversity is our biggest strength.

As a citizen and as an actor; what do you feel your primary responsibility is towards the country?

As a citizen and as an actor, I would like to contribute to our nation by creating films that are progressive. I truly believe in the power of cinema and through my art, I would like to showcase different perspectives. I would like to start conversations in living rooms, among friends and try to work towards shaping a nation that is more accepting, kind and thoughtful.

What for you is the best thing about being an Indian?

The best thing about being an Indian is that you are introduced to diversity. Usually, most of us speak, about two-three languages. Because we are such a diverse country, we are more accommodating. We know about different cultures and have a broader perspective. We just have richer experiences by meeting people from different religions, regions, cultures... and it's so beautiful. We have different weather -we have a cold desert, we have a hot desert, we have the Himalayas, a great coastline and that's why we call it a subcontinent. I think we have the best of everything and we should really enjoy it. We should feel really fortunate that we are part of this beautiful country.

Pick three Indian patriotic films that you grew up loving as a kid.

My idea of freedom is very different. For me, a film like Tamasha is about freedom. I have been part of two films - Article15 and Anek, both with Anubhav Sinha sir - that are also about freedom, about unity. They question our society and question discrimination, and for me, these three films are really on freedom.

A still from Article 15

A moment from Tamasha