Ayushmann Khurrana | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Khurrana in 2022 | |
| Born | Nishant Khurrana[1] (1984-09-14)14 September 1984 (age 40) Chandigarh, India |
| Alma mater | DAV College Panjab University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Works | Full list |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Aparshakti Khurana (brother)[2] |
| Awards | Full list |
Ayushmann Khurrana (bornNishant Khurrana; 14 September 1984) is an Indian actor and singer who works inHindi films. Known forhis portrayals of ordinary men often battling social norms,[3][4] he is the recipient ofseveral awards, including aNational Film Award and fourFilmfare Awards. He has appeared inForbes India'sCelebrity 100 list of 2013 and 2019, andTime named him one of the100 most influential people in the world in 2020.[5]
Khurrana won the second season of the reality television showMTV Roadies in 2004 and ventured into an anchoring career. He made his film debut with the romantic comedyVicky Donor (2012), where his role as a sperm donor earned him theFilmfare Award for Best Male Debut.[6][7] After a brief setback, he starred in the commercially and critically successfulDum Laga Ke Haisha (2015). Khurrana established himself with the financially successful comediesBareilly Ki Barfi (2017),Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (2017),Badhaai Ho (2018),Dream Girl (2019),Bala (2019) andShubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020).[8][9] His performances as a blind pianist in the thrillerAndhadhun (2018) and an honest cop in the crime dramaArticle 15 (2019) won him two consecutiveFilmfare Critics Award for Best Actor, along with theNational Film Award for Best Actor for the former. Following several commercial failures, he starred in the spiritual sequelDream Girl 2 (2023).
In addition to his acting roles, Khurrana has sung for several of his films. His song "Pani Da Rang", which he sang and co-composed, earned him theFilmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer. Since February 2023, he has been a nationalUNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for India.[10][11]
Khurrana was born as Nishant Khurrana into aPunjabiKhatri family,[12] on 14 September 1984 inChandigarh to Poonam and P. Khurrana.[13][14] His parents changed his name to Ayushmann when he was 3 years old.
His father, P. Khurrana, an astrologer[15] and an author on the subject of astrology, died in 2023[16] whereas his mother Poonam is a housewife of half-Burmese descent,[17] and has M.A. degree in Hindi.[citation needed]
He was a part of Guru Nanak Khalsa College. He studied atSt. John's High School,Chandigarh andDAV College,Chandigarh.[18] He majored inEnglish literature and has a master's degree in Mass Communication from theSchool of Communication Studies, Panjab University.[19] He did theatre for five years.
During his college days he performed in several plays inGaiety Theatre, Shimla. He was also the founding member of DAV College's "Aaghaaz" and "Manchtantra", which are active theatre groups in Chandigarh.[19] He conceived and acted in street plays and won prizes in national college festivals such asMood Indigo (IIT Bombay), OASIS (Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani) and St. Bedes Shimla.[19] He won a Best Actor award for playingAshwatthama inDharamvir Bharati'sAndha Yug.[20]
While Khurrana remains busy with his work inMumbai, his family still stays in Chandigarh. His brotherAparshakti Khurana is a radio jockey at Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM in Delhi and made his acting debut in the 2016Aamir Khan-starrer filmDangal.[21][22] The ambience of literature at home influenced Khurrana as well and he took up writing as a hobby. He also maintains a blog where he writes in Hindi and it has been received very well by his admirers.[23]
After completing his graduation and post-graduation in Journalism, his first job was as aradio personality atBIG FM,Delhi. He hosted the showBig Chai – Maan Na Maan,Main Tera Ayushmann and also won the Young Achievers Award in 2007 for it.[24] He was the youngest recipient of the Bharat Nirman Award in New Delhi.[25]
He also worked in many otherMTV shows such asMTV Fully Faltoo Movies,Cheque De India andJaadoo Ek Baar.[26] He then turned television host with a multiple-talent-based reality showIndia's Got Talent onColors TV, which he co-anchored withNikhil Chinapa,[27] andStripped, which gave latest updates on the Indian TV industry with a comic tinge, again onMTV. At the end of the year, he was also the anchor of the singing reality showMusic Ka Maha Muqqabla onSTAR Plus.[28]
Apart from hosting the second season ofMTV Rock On andIndia's Got Talent on Colors, he was also a part of the anchoring team ofExtra Innings T20 for Indian Premier League Season 3 onSET Max with Gaurav Kapur,Samir Kochhar, and Angad Bedi,[29][30] following which he took up the offer of anchoring the dance-based reality showJust Dance onSTAR Plus.
Khurrana made his acting debut in 2012 withShoojit Sircar's romantic comedyVicky Donor, co-starringAnnu Kapoor and debutanteYami Gautam. Marking the production debut of actorJohn Abraham, who cameoed in a promotional song, it starred Khurrana in the titular role of asperm donor. In preparation, he attended acting workshops and interacted with medical professionals.[31] For the film's soundtrack, he sang "Pani Da Rang", which he had written and composed withRochak Kohli back in 2003.[32] Praising the film's ensemble cast, Sukanya Verma ofRediff.com wrote that Khurrana's "candid disposition and roguish face ensures his street smart drollery works like a breeze".[33] With worldwide earnings of over₹610 million (US$7.1 million) against a budget of₹100 million (US$1.2 million),Vicky Donor emerged as a commercial success.[34] At theFilmfare Awards ceremony, Khurrana was awarded trophies forBest Male Debut andBest Male Playback Singer.[35]
In 2013, Khurrana appeared inForbes India'sCelebrity 100 list, ranking 70th with an estimated annual income of₹25.8 million (US$300,000).[36] He then collaborated withKunaal Roy Kapur inRohan Sippy'sNautanki Saala! (2013), a comedy based on the French filmAprès Vous (2005).Anupama Chopra found Khurrana to be "earnest" in it but felt that his comedic work was overshadowed by that of Roy Kapur.[37] He also recorded two songs for the film's soundtrack.[38] A year later, Khurrana teamed withYash Raj Films, as part of a three-film deal, in the romantic comedyBewakoofiyaan (2014), co-starringSonam Kapoor andRishi Kapoor, about a young man who has trouble convincing his girlfriend's father to approve of their marriage.[39] Writing forThe New York Times, Andy Webster disliked the film's "strained, contrived humor" but commended Khurrana for "holding his own opposite [Rishi] Kapoor".[40] BothNautanki Saala andBewakoofiyaan were commercially unsuccessful, as was his next release,Hawaizaada (2015).[41] In it, he played the scientistShivkar Bapuji Talpade, for which he lost weight and learnt to speakMarathi.[42] In the same year, Khurrana collaborated with his wife, Tahira Kashyap, to write his autobiographyCracking the Code: My Journey to Bollywood.[43]
Khurrana's career prospects improved when he starred opposite newcomerBhumi Pednekar inSharat Katariya's romanceDum Laga Ke Haisha (2015).[44][45] It tells the story of an underachieving man who is married against his will to an overweight woman, and marked his first film where he did not sing any of the songs. Anuj Kumar ofThe Hindu praised him for effectively capturing his character's "diction and body language".[46] Despite minimal promotions, the film emerged as a commercial success, grossing over₹410 million (US$4.8 million) worldwide against its₹140 million (US$1.6 million) budget.[47][48]
After no releases in 2016, he starred in the poorly receivedMeri Pyaari Bindu oppositeParineeti Chopra, Khurrana's career progressed with his two other films releases of 2017, the romantic-comedy dramasBareilly Ki Barfi andShubh Mangal Saavdhan, both of which were commercially successful.[8][44] Adapted fromNicolas Barreau's French novelThe Ingredients of Love, the former starred him alongsideRajkummar Rao andKriti Sanon as a writer who gets involved in a love triangle with a tomboyish girl and a timid salesman.[49] Saibal Chatterjee ofNDTV wrote that Khurrana does a "convincing job of mutating from a brooding jilted lover to a crooked manipulator who puts his own interests above everyone else's".[50] In the latter, he starred opposite Pednekar as a newly engaged man suffering fromerectile dysfunction. A remake of the Tamil filmKalyana Samayal Saadham (2013), the film, Khurrana hoped, had a humorous take on mental and sexual problems faced by men which would bring wider attention to the topic.[51]Rajeev Masand took note of how well the film handled sexuality without being crude and commended him for "investing the fellow with genuine likeability and an understated charm".[52] Khurrana received a nomination for theFilmfare Award for Best Actor for the latter film.[53]
2018 featured Khurrana in two of thehighest-grossing Hindi films of the year, both of which wonNational Film Awards.[54] His first role was inSriram Raghavan'sAndhadhun, a thriller co-starringTabu andRadhika Apte, in which he played a blind pianist who unwillingly becomes embroiled in a murder. He lobbied for the part after hearing about it from casting directorMukesh Chhabra, and in preparation, learnt how to play the piano and interacted with blind piano players.[55][56][57] Udita Jhunjhunwala ofMint praised Khurrana for giving a "taut performance that balances vulnerability with craftiness" and Ankur Pathak ofHuffPost found his to be "a layered, no-holds-barred performance worth applauding".[58][59]Andhadhun earned₹4.56 billion (US$53 million) worldwide, a majority of which came from the Chinese box office, to become Khurrana's highest-grossing release and one ofIndian cinema's biggest grossers.[54][60] He next starred inBadhaai Ho, a comedy from directorAmit Ravindernath Sharma about a young man whose middle-aged mother gets pregnant.Anna M. M. Vetticad ofFirstpost considered his performance to be "completely convincing" and commended him for choosing "to work in small films where the star is the story".[61] A surprise blockbuster, it earned over₹2.21 billion (US$26 million) worldwide.[54][62] ForAndhadhun, Khurrana won theNational Film Award for Best Actor andFilmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.[63][64]
The series of huge successful and blockbuster films continued with Khurrana's 2019 releases:Article 15,Dream Girl, andBala.[65][66] The first was a crime thriller directed byAnubhav Sinha in which he played a righteous police officer solving a rape case. Highlightingcaste discrimination in India, the film was inspired by multiple events including the2014 Badaun gang rape allegations and the2016 Una flogging incident.[67][68] It was his first dark and intense character in his film career.[69] Writing forThe Guardian, Wendy Ide commended him for "combin[ing] soulful Bollywood heartthrob charisma with an arrestingly intense performance."[70]Dream Girl starred him as across-gender actor who speaks in a female voice while working at a call centre which unwittingly attracts male attention.[71] Nandini Ramnath ofScroll.in considered his "manic energy and believable Everyman persona" to be the film's highlight.[72] The lattermost was a satire on societal standards of beauty fromStree directorAmar Kaushik, in which he played a young man who faces societal pressure due to premature balding. He found it physically challenging to play the part due to the heavy layers of prosthetics used on his head. It marked his second film where he did not sing any of the songs.[73] Rajeev Masand opined that Khurrana "cuts a sympathetic figure as another not-instantly-likeable loser" and added that he had "cornered the market when it comes to playing flawed, insecure men with confidence issues".[74] He won another Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor forArticle 15 and received a Best Actor nomination at the ceremony forBala.[75][76] That year, he reappeared onForbes India's Celebrity 100 list, ranking 37th with an estimated annual income of₹305 million (US$3.6 million).[36]
For his next project, Khurrana actively looked for another mainstream film that would portray sexuality in a humorous manner. He found it inShubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020), in which he played a gay man who has trouble convincing his partner's family of their relationship.[77] It was the first mainstream Bollywood film to be led by openly gay characters.[78][79] Shubhra Gupta ofThe Indian Express credited Khurrana for "allowing the film to be so much about" his lesser known co-starJitendra Kumar.[80] The film performed moderately well at the box-office, despite being impacted by the shutdown of cinemas due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in India.[81] He was next seen in the comedy-dramaGulabo Sitabo, directed by Sircar and co-starringAmitabh Bachchan.[82][83] Due to the pandemic, the film premiered directly onAmazon Prime Video.[84] Pallabi Dey Puryakastha ofThe Times of India noted that Khurrana's "body language tellingly portrays sadness and bitterness borne out of poverty".[85]
In 2021, Khurrana played a bodybuilder who falls in love with atrans woman inAbhishek Kapoor's romantic comedyChandigarh Kare Aashiqui.[86] He then reunited with Sinha for theNortheast India-basedAnek (2022).[87][88] Khurrana next headlinedAnubhuti Kashyap's medical drama,Doctor G (2022), withRakul Preet Singh andShefali Shah, and starred inAanand L. Rai's production,An Action Hero, directed by Anirudh Iyer.[89][90] Despite positive reviews, none of these films performed well at the box office.[91][92]
Khurrana next starred inDream Girl 2, aspiritual sequel to his 2019 filmDream Girl, which released in 2023.[93] It marked a commercial resurgence for the actor, emerging as his biggest box-office hit sinceBala in 2019.[94][95] He will next star withSara Ali Khan in an as-yet untitled spy comedy film and will join theMaddock Horror Comedy Universe in the romantic horror filmThama.[96][97]
Khurrana married his childhood friend, filmmaker and journalism teacher, Tahira Kashyap, in 2008. They have a son and daughter together.[98]
Kashyap was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018 but was declared cancer free in 2020. Khuranna credits her belief inNichiren Buddhism for helping her get through the tough time.[99][100][101][102][103]
| Year | Song | Album | Composer | Note(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | "Pani Da Rang" | Vicky Donor | Himself, Rochak Kohli | [104] | |
| "Pani Da Rang (Female)" | sung by Sukanya Purkayastha | ||||
| 2013 | "Saddi Gali" | Nautanki Saala! | Duet withNeeti Mohan | ||
| "Saddi Gali (Unplugged)" | |||||
| "Tu Hi Tu" | Mikey McCleary | [105] | |||
| "O Heeriye" | Single | Rochak Kohli | FeaturesRhea Chakraborty | [106] | |
| 2014 | "Khaamakhaan" | Bewakoofiyaan | Raghu Dixit | Duet withNeeti Mohan | [107] |
| "Mitti Di Khushboo" | Single | Rochak Kohli | FeaturesHuma Qureshi | [108] | |
| 2015 | "Dil-E-Naadan" | Hawaizaada | Himself | Rendition ofMirza Ghalib's version | [109] |
| "Dil-E-Naadan (Reprise)" (Along withShweta Subram) | |||||
| "Turram Khan" | Rochak Kohli | WithPapon andMonali Thakur | |||
| "Moh Moh Ke Dhage (Reprise)" | Dum Laga Ke Haisha | Anu Malik | [110] | ||
| "Yahin Hoon Main" | Single | Rochak Kohli | FeaturesYami Gautam | [104] | |
| 2016 | "Ik Vaari" | Aparshakti Khurana | FeaturesAisha Sharma | [111] | |
| 2017 | "Haareya (Rock version)" | Meri Pyaari Bindu | Sachin–Jigar | [112] | |
| "Orrey Mon" | Single | Upal Sengupta | FeaturesRitabhari Chakraborty | [113] | |
| "Nazm Nazm" | Bareilly Ki Barfi | Arko | [113] | ||
| "Kanha (Unplugged)" | Shubh Mangal Savdhan | Tanishk-Vayu | [114] | ||
| 2018 | "Bachpan" | Toffee | Abhinav Bhansal | [115] | |
| "Aap Se Milkar (Reprise)" | Andhadhun | Amit Trivedi | [116] | ||
| "Naina Da Kya Kasoor" | [104] | ||||
| "Chan Kitthan" | Single | Rochak Kohli | FeaturesPranitha Subhash | [104] | |
| "Nain Na Jodeen" | Badhaai Ho | [117] | |||
| 2019 | "Intezaar (Reprise)" | Article 15 | Anurag Saikia | [118] | |
| "Ik Mulakat (Reprise)" | Dream Girl | Meet Bros | [119] | ||
| "Ab Teri Baari (withNaezy)" | Single | Clinton Cerejo | [113] | ||
| 2020 | "Mere Liye Tum Kaafi Ho" | Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan | Tanishk-Vayu | [104] | |
| "Arrey Pyaar Kar Le" | Tanishk Bagchi | [120] | |||
| 2021 | "Kinni Soni He" | Quaranteen Crush | Sameer Kaushal | Part of series,Feels Like Ishq | [121] |
| "Maafi" | Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui | Sachin-Jigar | [122] | ||
| 2022 | "O Sweetie Sweetie" | Doctor G | Amit Trivedi | [123] | |
| 2023 | "Rataan Kaaliyan" | Single | Rochak Kohli | [124] | |
| 2024 | "Jachdi" | Single | Goldboy | [125] |
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