On the 9th anniversary of ‘Vicky Donor’, young Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana reveals he was very jittery about the reaction that he would receive from audiences as an unconventional hero in his debut film! “It’s been 9 years but it definitely seems like it happened yesterday. I can still feel the rush I felt on release day, nine years back. I was confident of the script but very jittery about the response that I would get from audiences as a lead actor,” confesses Ayushmann.
The versatile star adds, “I remember all the phone calls with my family and friends, how they kept telling me that audiences would welcome me because I have put in my best. I was an outsider just starting to write my own destiny and I was thrilled with the prospect of what life had in store for me. I owe so much to Vicky Donor.”
Ayushmann credits director Shoojit Sircar for his fantastic debut that became a runaway success at the box office. He says, “I owe everything to Shoojit Sircar for his vision and trust in me as an actor. I owe it to Ronnie Lahiri and Juhi Chaturvedi. It was a film that was trying to change the language of cinema in India and I’m so proud to have been a part of it.”
The actor says the success of ‘Vicky Donor’ told him that audiences want to see a new hero on screen.
Ayushmann Khurrana shared a post with a caption saying, “If I look back now, it seems like yesterday. The year 2012 and now it’s 2021. Coincidentally they’re the same jumbled digits. This shot reminds me of composing the line “kothe utte baeh ke akhiyaan milaunde”, I had written this verse of Paani Da Rang while I was shooting on this location, close to Rajouri Garden in Delhi. With perpetual butterflies in my stomach, I shot for this film, playing cricket or football with shoojit da, post pack up, every single day.”
Further he thanked everyone, “Thank you Shoojit da for being a great mentor. Thank you Juhi for coming up with this benchmark of a script and altering the course of Hindi cinema. Thank you Ronnie da for being the coolest producer. And thank you big bro John Abraham for backing this gem. I owe it to you guys! Thank you Yami, Annu ji, Dolly ji, Veera, Negi ji and the entire team. Thank you universe for realising my big Bollywood dream.”
He says, “It’s a film that told me to dream, to be bold, to be gutsy and risky about content choices and most importantly told me that audiences want to see a different form of heroism on screen. They want something real, relatable, endearing and they want to see good cinema that has clutter breaking stories.”
Ayushmann Khurrana adds, “Vicky Donor’s incredible success helped me stay on course to continuously disrupt the industry narrative with my choice of cinema and I can assure you that I will constantly try doing so through my brand of storytelling.”
