Among the big stars of the industry like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Varun Dhawan and others, one actor who has made his place with his unconventional characters and films is Ayushmann Khurrana. Slowly but steadily, Ayushmann has earned his position in Bollywood with dedication, taking on characters which are difficult to play for leading actors of the industry.
Ayushmann Khurrana was first noticed in 2002 on Channel V’s show, PopStars. Interestingly, he was the youngest among all the contestants. However, Ayushmann got recognition with the adventure-reality show, Roadies 2. After giving solid performances in all the tasks, Ayushmann won the show at the age of 20.
Despite being a winner of Roadies 2, Ayushmann never changed his attitude towards his hard work as he completed his graduation and post-graduation in Journalism. On that basis, Ayushmann got his first job as an RJ at BIG FM, Delhi. His radio show Big Chai – Maan Na Maan, Main Tera made Ayushmann a star on radio and also made him the winner of Young Achievers Award in 2007. Many people don’t know that Ayushmann is the youngest recipient of the Bharat Nirman Award in New Delhi.
After winning hearts on radio, Ayushmann moved to TV and worked as Video Jockey (VJ) for shows like Pepsi MTV Wassup, The Voice of Youngistaan. Notably, Ayushmann also worked in MTV Fully Faltoo Movies, Cheque De India and Jaadoo Ek Baar. Later on TV, Ayushmann hosted shows like India’s Got Talent, Music Ka Maha Muqqabla, MTV Rock On, Extra Innings T20 for Indian Premier League Season 3 and Just Dance.
During this journey, Ayushmann Khurrana got married to his childhood friend Tahira Kashyap. When asked about how the love story began, Ayushmann told a news portal, “When I got to know that she has a crush on me, I couldn’t believe it. I never ever thought she could feel this way for me. There were so many good looking guys in the class! I was nowhere close to them. Also, I didn’t believe in looking around or indulging in mild flirtations. Class over, I would head home. So, when someone told me that Tahira had a crush on me, I was on cloud nine. The girl, who every guy had a crush on, had a crush on me! It seemed impossible but I was damn happy.”
When Tahira was asked about how Ayushmann had proposed her, she had said, “Ayushmann formally proposed to me just last year when we got married in November 2011. He did it like a gentleman with a ring, music playing in the background, red roses, wine and a romantic candlelight dinner.” Ayushmann and Tahira have two kids – son Virajveer and daughter Vrushka.
Before marriage, Ayushmann had struggled a lot to get into the glamour industry. While speaking about his experience with casting couch in Anaita Shroff’s interview, he said, “There was this gay casting director, who said, ‘I want to see your c**k. Can I just feel you?’ I started laughing. I was like, ‘Kya baat kar rahe ho yaar? Are you serious?’ I said no, it’s not happening like that.”
Well, finally in 2012, Ayushmann made his debut with Yami Gautam in John Abraham’s produced film, Vicky Donor. In his very first film, Ayushmann played an unconventional character of a sperm donor. Interestingly, Vicky Donor introduced Ayushmann as a singer as well. His Pani Da Rang song had become so popular that it made him the winner of Filmfare Best Singer Award.
From his very first film, Ayushmann didn’t turn back and has been playing various characters in unconventional films like Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Hawaizaade, Bareilly Ki Barfi and others. On the work front, his upcoming AndhaDhun and Badhaai Ho are creating a lot of buzz among the masses. Let’s see how these films perform at the box office!
