Ayushmann Khurrana recalls a director saying he doesn’t “sell”

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana is a successful Bollywood actor, with a slew of hits to back up his career. However, his career did not exactly have the best take-off. After a successful debut with ‘Vicky Donor’, the actor delivered three back-to-back flops - ‘Nautanki Saala’, ‘Bewakoofiyaan’, and ‘Hawaizaada’. In a recent interview, he revealed that he was told by a filmmaker around this time that he does not “sell”.
He said, “One of the filmmakers told me, ‘Ayushmann, you don’t sell’. I had said no to a film and I was told ‘Ayushmann, you don’t sell, why are you saying no to this film?’ Upkaar paise kar rahe ho, ki yeh film kar lo (It was like he was doing me a favour by offering me the film).” Khurrana later bounced back with the release of ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’. However, he took his time to select his next project. “I waited for two years after ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’, I did not have a release for two years. I was just waiting for the right film.”
Ayushmann won the National Award for Best Actor in 2019 for his performance in ‘Andhadhun’. He shared the award with Vicky Kaushal, who was honoured for ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’. On the work front, Ayushmann’s latest ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’ was released on December 10. He plays a weightlifting champion who spends most of his time working out, falls in love with his Zumba instructor who turns out to be a trans woman. The film has been garnering positive reviews from fans and critics alike.
Ayushmann has a number of movies in the pipeline, including Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Anek’ and Anubhuti Kashyap’s ‘Doctor G’. He is also set to star in Aanand L Rai’s production ‘Action Hero’.