Ayushmann Khurrana says that seeing success and rejection at the start of his career has toughened him up for the journey ahead.
In an exclusive interview with BT, he said, “I am a passionate actor, but I am also very practical. I started with plan C to reach plan A. Like I mentioned earlier, I have had such a variety of experiences before I became a big screen actor, that now I don’t feel any sense of insecurity. Tomorrow, if I want to pack my bags and go back, I can do it. I can be a programming head in Shimla, do my morning shows and enjoy it. If my films don’t do well, I won’t feel insecure about the question, ‘what will you do next?’ I also pursue music passionately. If I only pursue acting, then I will get lost somewhere. I need to do other things to make my life interesting. Only if you live your life fully can you translate all of that on celluloid. If you are only an actor 24/7, then what else will you do? If you are only surrounded by people from the cinema world, then, you can’t be in touch with normal people. I often go with my manager to the chai ki tapri, and talk to them about kya chal raha hai unke zindagi mein. The people who are sitting there and reading the paper, un logon ne shaayad meri filmein bhi nahin dekhi hai. Right now, I am a multiplex actor. Kuch bhi bolo, main abhi bhi single screen ka hero nahin hoon. I want to become one. I want to reach out to those people, hence I need to know them. A lot of my experiences also come from doing theatre in my younger days. I had formed two theatre groups in Chandigarh. In those days, we would travel from Chandigarh to Mumbai in second class sleeper compartments. We were 15 boys who would carry our guitars and dholaks and do street theatre. During our train journey, we would go from one bogie to the other and sing for the passengers. They would be so thrilled that they would give us anything ranging from `5 to `100. I have gone through these amazing experiences and that’s why I say that I am a trained singer, kyunki maine train mein gaya hai (laughs).”
For the full interview, read tomorrow’s edition of Bombay Times