EXCLUSIVE: Ayushmann Khurrana opens up about discrimination faced by the people of NE India

Ayushmann Khurrana has collaborated with Anubhav Sinha for Anek. The movie revolves around the plight of the people of Northeast India. Ayushmann is an agent, seemingly from the northern region of the country, who works in Northeast India. How he tries to restore peace in the region while focussing on its socio-political issues.

In an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Bubble host, Akash Bhatnagar Ayushmann has spoken about NE, the discrimination faced by its people. He also spoke about his first experience there.

Ayushmann said, “When I was in college I had a band member who was from Manipur. That was the time when it was my induction towards racial slurs that northeasterners have to suffer. We had a small community of Northeasterners in Chandigarh who during their college days were very active in arts, theatres, and music. They were a bunch of great people but they faced a lot of flak. They had this grouse against the mainland that they were not treated properly and had to face racism. This was etched in my mind.   I am fortunate that I am in touch with some people from that region and it woke a lot of empathy“.

 

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He also opened up on the first time that he visited NE and added, “First time I visited was Assam during India’s Got Talent in 2007. But I was in touch with other sects from NE in Chandigarh when I was in college so that was always there.  The myths busted, and new revelations that I got to know are that it is a matriarchal society.  The mother’s name gets carried forward in Nagaland especially. It was a revelation that it is a beautiful place. Meghalaya is called the Scotland of the east. Kaziranga National Park is beautiful.  There are so many tourist destinations like Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh it’s full of beauty.”

On the issues faced by NE, he said, “Basically media does not cover NE, Assam faces flood problems every year but the news never reaches Mumbai or any other big cities. I think that’s unfortunate. We do not carry news, we do not make films on NE. That is the reason I call Anek a historic film because this is the first time we are probably highlighting the issue. This is the first attempt by Hindi cinema, Indian cinema to join the NE to the mainstream.”

Check out the entire conversation of Ayushmann Khurrana here:

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