An actor’s screen persona often calls for extreme admiration. So much so, meeting them in person off it is underwhelming. But Ayushmann Khurrana was a refreshing change. He spoke about everything from movies, to his love for music to his plans for his band in this half-hour long tete-a-tete.
Right now, I identify with being a writer because I play a writer in the film and I am writing columns now. I am glad that DNA gave me that opportunity to explore that territory every week. Though I have written my songs and a book with my wife, at this particular time I am writing every week and there’s a deadline. It’s a challenge every week. And I am glad that it happened at this time because I am playing a writer in Meri Pyaari Bindu as well. Being a writer, you can just be more creative, you can express your love in a very creative way.
I think it’s very important to keep my musical identity separate from my identity as an actor. It’s not always supposed to mix. Even in Dum Lagaa Ke Haisha, I made a conscious decision not to sing because I played a Kumar Sanu fan… a simpleton, a loser, who you don’t expect to sing. Similarly, in this film, I play a non-singer, Parineeti plays the singer. So we have to establish that fact. It would have diluted that communication of my character, had I sung. I can sing in my other films. There’s no desperation to sing.
I had never connected to a co-star like that. She is musically inclined, her influences are very similar to mine. She was born in Ambala, I am from Chandigarh. We both are from Punjabi families. And most importantly, we love retro music. I mean, most of the people in our industry, probably don’t know retro music that much. Parineeti and I would discuss ke yeh toh Madan Mohan ki composition hai, woh Laxmikant-Pyarelal ki hai, or RD, SD Burman, etc. We know all these names and their compositions. I was really happy that I could discuss these things with my co-actor. And I am glad that she had become a music buddy. Our time off-camera was just like a huge jamming session.
Producer Maneesh Sharma and director Akshay Roy would send us scratches of the songs (composed by Sachin-Jigar) and take our opinions. There’s a Bengali song in the film that has been sung by Monali Thakur. That was, in fact, my input.. to put a Bengali-heavy song (Khol De Baahein) because the backdrop is Kolkata. I am glad they took it seriously.
For the past two months, I have been shooting for Shubh Mangal Savdhan and the band has taken a backseat, but I had a concert in Mumbai recently. Whenever I get time, I do a show...
Next single, I have no idea. I will probably sing a cover of Bindu after the release. I have three films coming up this year. I could not sing for this film, but I will in others.