Ayushmann Khurrana: My dog didn’t recognise me as Pooja in Dream Girl 2 - Exclusive

Ayushmann Khurrana is one of the finest actors in the country who has carved a niche for himself with risky and out of the box choices. And in the last 10 years, he has emerged as one of the most bankable actors in the business. His latest film Dream Girl 2 is the newest addition to the list. Know more about success of the film and how people around him have reacted to his act of Pooja.

Your latest film Dream Girl 2 has made more than 50 crore in just 5 days...
It is great validation, and this was the motive behind Dream Girl 2. I always thought it'd be like a commercial success when I heard the narration for the first time and I was rolling on the floor laughing. It was crazy, outrageous and very slapstick and very frontbencher and probably this is my most commercial tonality. And also the biggest opening. So, very happy!
Paresh Rawal had said that if Ayushmann has touched the film, that means it has a great script...
When such senior actors have this kind of trust on me, it is a great responsibility on my shoulders. He did mention this to me in person as well. I have been very fortunate to work with such brilliant actors in the film. I have made choices which are different, novel and clutter-breaking. And this time also, like, it's been a while you're not seeing the male actor play a woman's role. It's been like 25-30 odd years. So there was this void there and I'm glad this happened.
How did your kids react when they saw you as Pooja?
I remember my dog coming to the site and she didn't recognise me. It is heartbreaking. I was wearing my manager's perfume or my makeup artist's perfume to just get the character of Pooja, my dog was taken aback and she didn't recognise me. My kids are very proud of me. They loved the film. And when kids love the film, it is a marker that it is good and will reach out to a wider section of people.
What is the best compliment you got for the film?
The best compliment for the film was that I was the full embodiment of a woman as Pooja and very macho and alpha as Karam. These two distinctively different characters are poles apart. And it's like a double role but of a boy and a girl. So as an actor, it was really exciting. The theatre character in me was jumping out of joy and excitement.
How does an actor see the success of a film now, given that a few years ago during the pandemic, the industry had come to standstill and theaters were not working?
It is just a change of curve, I'm glad this has happened in the past three months that mid budget films or small budget films have started working well in theaters. Because every six months there was a conspiracy theory that only big films will work or high scale films will work.
But things have changed with films like SatyaPrem Ki Katha or Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, then Gadar 2, OMG 2 and Dream Girl 2, they all are mid-budget films. And the films that I do are not big on budget, they are big on content. So this is a welcome change. And the sense of community viewing is back. People are getting out of their homes and they want to watch films in theaters and it's a great feeling that I'm a part of the wave now with Dream Girl 2 doing really well.
What kind of content pulls you to the theaters?
I loved Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, I’m a huge Karan Johar fan and I’ve grown up watching his films. It is a great tribute to every generation.
Are you excited about Jawan?
Very!!! I’m a huge SRK fan and he’s been a huge inspiration since my school days and it will be great to see him in different avatars in the film.