Ayushmann Khurrana: An imperfect ‘hero’, a perfect actor

It was 2012, and people were suddenly flocking over to watch the movie of a certain debutant, with an unconventional face, and a voice to die for. The name was Ayushmann Khurrana, and he chose a character which none would have dared, to venture into Bollywood; that of a sperm donor. His efforts paid off and ‘Vicky Donor’ became a household name. With no starry aura to boast of or a godfather to back, this young lad just crooned his way into our hearts. Why? He was no Shah Rukh Khan who could spread his arms and the heroine would run into them. Then why, a certain Ayushmann Khurrana, with a charming smile, and a typical Delhi-boy demeanour, made our hearts go fluttering?

In the flurry of Rajs and Rahuls, the real romance was shaping up, and one man was leading it, from the front. That man was Ayushmann Khurrana.

Coming year, came another small-budget entertainer, ‘Nautanki Saala’, starring the man, and yet again, we saw him in a role that we would not expect, especially when we have always been treated to a quintessential sugar-candy kind of romance, with picturesque locations and beautiful faces. Here was man who was playing characters as real as the traffic on the roads, the couples in the park, the romance of the balconies, all the while, still managing to make us believe that this love is also unabashadely romantic, not just the ones we have grown up with.

Ayushmann was slowly changing romance for us, making us see the beauty in fiction that was inspired from reality, a guy who was making us believe that we all are imperfect, and that is where perfect stories find their home, in the flawed beauty. That is where the true merit of an actor lies. Not in the ambiguity of poetry plucked from affluent backdrops, but from the raw lines that come out of the heart, in the wee hours of the night. Ayushmann was that man; he was living those characters, breathing into it.

Be it the Prem of ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’, Abhimanyu of ‘Meri Pyaari Bindu’, or even the recent ones; Chirag of ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ and Mudit of ‘Shubh Mangal Savdhaan’, the earnestness with which Ayushmann portrays each and every small town lover, is surreal. It clinches something in your heart and turns it around, forcing you to stop searching for the Shah Rukh Khan of your dreams, and look for the Ayushmann near you. He may be a friend, or a neighbour, or that classmate who steals a look at you, but someone who has always been there, but you never noticed. Ayushmann is that guy for you, on the screens.

In just a short span of five years, Ayushmann has given us the imperfect lovers, in the perfect way plausible. He has played them with such meticulousness, that one can’t help but be mesmerised. In all the characters that he has played till now, none of the other actors could have done as much justice to them as he did, capturing each frame in essence, and imbibing it deep into his own self, to make us believe in the character, and the actor.

On his birthday today, we would just like to say, thank you. Thank you, Ayushmann, for making us believe that love does not happen while singing songs in unattainable locations, but while trying to steal a hug in the corridors of the college, on the balconies of joined houses, in that rose which is kept inside a book, and in the smile that is pressed in the memory… the love of everyday life, which we conveniently overlook while searching for something imaginary. Thank you for making us open our eyes and look around, for that imperfect love, which you played perfectly.

Kadambari Srivastava

Grammar Nazi, word weaver, dreamer, bibliophile, technophile, caffeine addict, foodie, shuttling shopaholic! Mash it in a Bollywood recipe and voila! Pushpa, you’ve got her!