I thank my parents for the way they brought me up: Ayushmann Khurrana

Ayushmann Khurrana is one guy who has never failed to surprise us with his talent. Be it acting, anchoring or singing, Ayushmann has always come up trumps. Now with his debut Punjabi-Hindi single ‘O Heeriye’ all set for release (he has also composed the music along with his friend Rochak), Ayushmann is all set to enthrall his fans with his mellifluous tunes once again. We caught up with this multifaceted actor at Yashraj studios for a quick tete-a-tete. Anchor, singer, actor and now a music artiste. Is there any other talent hidden in you that we are not aware about? (Laughs) Aisa kuch nahi hain yaar (There is nothing like that) I am just grateful to God that I can perform these different roles. I also have to thank my parents for the way they brought me up. I think it’s perhaps my upbringing in my formative years that has given me a chance to dabble into so many different things. How did this idea of releasing a single happen? After Paani da Rang and Sadi Galli, everyone kept asking which is your next song and when is it coming. And I used to say my next song will come along with my next film. But then that would have meant waiting for almost a year from now. So I thought to myself that I could release a song in the form of a single so that everyone can enjoy it. That’s how the entire idea came into the picture. But why a single? Why didn’t you cut out an album with many songs? I think more than albums, the trend today is that of singles. Even in international market you have big stars like Coldplay and John Mayer releasing single as opposed to an album. So that played at the back of my mind. Also, it takes a long time to make an album takes as compared to a single. Are you a trained singer? No. I tried learning classical while I was a kid but I just couldn’t sit at one place for an hour to learn. So I never studied it. What kind of music have you composed this time for ‘O Heeriye’? This music is Punjabi soft rock. Normally we connect Punjabi songs with Bhangra but this is a soft rock number. We started this genre with Paani da Rang and Sadi Galli and we are taking this genre further with O Heeriye. We are guessing this song is about love. Could you give us some more dope about the story? Yes, it’s about love. You will find a very urbane setting in the video. The story runs from the time you see a girl for the first time till you are in a steady relationship with her. That’s the story in short. (Winks) We see you singing in every film of yours. Could we say that you are going the Kishore Kumar way? Oh! Well Kishore Sir is a legend. I am nowhere close to him. And I feel his forte was singing. Mine is acting. I am more of an actor than a singer. And Kishore Kumar was a versatile singer. I am not a versatile singer. I can sing only a particular kind of songs mostly soft romantic numbers. I can’t sing the classical ones. Vicky Donor was a sleeper hit while Nautanki Saala didn’t do well. But both these had really off-beat subjects. What do you keep in mind while choosing your scripts? That’s a tough one to answer. Mostly it’s the entire script, the character I am playing and the director. Nautanki Saala was based on a French movie and I really liked the film. Yes, unfortunately it didn’t do well. You looked quite natural in these roles. Safe to say these roles were quite within your comfort zone. Well I take cues from my real life. I am a Punjabi so it was very easy for me to play Vicky Donor or being a theater actor it was easy to act in Nautanki Saala or being a struggler I could do the character well in Hamara Bajaj. So if the characters are close to your real life, it becomes easier to play those characters. So how about acting in a film that is not within your comfort zone? As a matter of fact, I am actually doing a film now which is a biopic of a Maharashtrian. And trust me; this is a big challenge as I don’t know Marathi that well. So yes, you could say I am out of my comfort zone in this film. You are married. Don’t you think that affects your female fan following? I don’t think so yaar. Times have changed. Aaj kal toh ladkiyon ko koi bhi chalega. (These days’ girls don’t mind even if you are married) I get love letters even now. See I was married even before Vicky Donor happened. Had I been single, then yes marriage now would have made a difference. (winks again)