We adore Ranveer Singh’s unabashed gush-fest over his wife’s Insta pics. And yes, it is difficult to oust the olde-worlde charm of Shah Rukh Khan or the puppy-eyed appeal of Ranbir Kapoor from our list. But ever so slowly, like ‘mitti di khusboo’, this skinnyish lad with the shy smile has wafted right up to top slot.
Ayushmann Khurrana, the National award winning actor and darling of the box office — he has delivered three thumping hits this year alone: Article 15, Dream Girl and Bala — is scooping up all the brownie points...
Ask filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari to analyse his appeal and she tells us, “Apart from food everything can be not-so-perfect for him and he can go with the flow with his characters. Fellow A, as I call him, has the knack and foresight to pick scripts that challenge a norm in society or himself.
He has no ego to chase the right people and is as humble and clear through the journey.” Having worked with him in the delightful Bareilly Ki Barfi, she shares, “I have seen him on screen and off screen. He rarely gets angry but can get moody and silent.
He enhances his flaws and rootedness to where he comes from and where he is now.” Oh, and in case you were wondering, “Food is still his biggest pacifier!”
Bala director Amar Kaushik affirms, “Ayushmann’s strength lies in his courage to experiment. I totally love how he has brought forth the hero in an ordinary man.
He is a storyteller and doesn’t hesitate to tell stories that do not necessarily make him a hero. That’s a sign of a secure and confident actor.” But it’s not just his professional prowess that prompts us to unofficially crown him Man of the Year 2019...
The dude’s a poet
“Kya hai sukoon? — Ghar ke aangan ki mitti mein pehli baarish ki boond.” Also, “Dhoondne nikla tha tujhe. Na mujhe tu mila. Na mujhe main mila.” Just a couple of examples of the shayari he tweets, which routinely fetch thousands of retweets by his fans.
And he does it purely for the “sheer love of it”, revealing that while he has no commercial aspirations related to his poetry, he would like to get it published some time. A B-town millennial speaking of “artistic yearnings”? We are sold!
This is me
We are digging the way he speaks directly of his life, warts and all. Remember the time he opened up about his wife wife Tahira Kashyap's reaction to his kissing scene in Vicky Donor? “She did not want me to kiss on screen. I was wanted by everyone (after the film became a hit). We were also going through a rough patch. She was not ready for all this.”
In a profession where couples in the divorce courts still fake a happy marriage, this wins our hat tip for sure.
He has also gone on to reveal that had all his films been successful, his wife would have left him as he would have become a different person. Again, hinting at swelling egos and coming back on track with the support of his wife, takes guts.
“Of course, you do get attracted to people,” he has admitted, “But your core needs to be right. The belief that you are with this person for a lifetime and you have to be with the family. That is the only thing, which will last forever.” Can somebody clone him, please?
Teasing equation
When many long-term couples seem to be sleep-walking through their relationship, our chap clearly keeps the spark going. And Tahira is apparently a worthy match.
Take the pic she shared of herself, captioning it, “That’s me right in the morning without any hair product and @ayushmannk calls me Harish!” She cleared the suspense, sharing an image of the actor Harish Kumar sporting similar hair to her own, hash-tagging it #lookalike #antigravityhair.
She’s chirpy alright. Even her man was amazed, commenting, “I never thought you’ll put a post on this. Ahem. You’re more gutsy than my on screen characters. You inspire.”
Husband goals
Our man is setting the bar pretty high. From keeping the Karwa Chauth fast for Tahira who, being on medication for her cancer treatment, could not do so herself, to lauding her for doing better than him professionally for the longest time and being “gutsy enough to marry a man just for love and have faith in his talent.” Which happy wife wouldn’t want to declare like she did: “How adorable are you, Mr A”!
Feminist heart
Wish more men would take a leaf out of his book, when he says, “When there’s love, there’s no scope for ego. Most men in India aren’t secure enough to be comfortable with such an arrangement.
It comes with the family. It depends on how your father treats your mother. But a man, no matter where he comes from, could always trigger a change.” Up for the challenge, guys?
— Inputs from Sonali Pitale Joshi
