MUMBAI: For years after his debut, it seemed Ayushmann Khurrana could do no wrong. The actor picked the most unconventional subjects and yet, they seemed to work at the box office. 

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With this, he carved a niche for himself as a bankable star in rooted, small town stories. But just as everything seemed to be going well for Ayushmann, the pandemic happened. 

This saw a few films of his release on streaming and the remaining failing to work at the box office. The actor recently opened up on the failure of his critically acclaimed film An Action Hero and what might have gone wrong.

An Action Hero marked Anirudh Iyer’s directorial debut. The meta black comedy saw Ayushmann play a film star who gets embroiled in the murder of a strongman politician’s brother. 

The film starred Jaideep Ahlawat as his adversary and was praised by critics. Yet, it was a dud at the box office, earning a mere Rs 16 crore on a Rs 45-crore budget.

Talking about the film, Ayushmann said, “That was probably not the right time for An Action Hero. In our minds, we were making a commercial film that was tight, gripping, short at just 2-hour-long. I think we made a great film. The aspiration was to make an edge-of-the-seat thriller that was topical, related to the media and the joke was on us. But like I said, it wasn’t the right time. You have to fit in that jigsaw puzzle. Maybe there was a lot of clutter at that time.”

Ayushmann said that the times have changed now and judging by how positively people reacted to the film when it released on Netflix, the film may just have succeeded if released now. 

“Probably if it was released now, it would have done much better. Sometimes, it is just about the timing, not just about the way the product is made. Unfortunately, people didn’t consume the product. When they watched it on Netflix, they really loved it,” added the actor.

But Ayushmann refuses to be bogged down by films not working well. “I think that’s part of the game. You learn something with every particular film, especially ones that don’t work,” he said matter-of-factly. 

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The tide surely has turn. Ayushmann’s latest release Dream Girl 2 has grossed over Rs 100 crore worldwide in less than two weeks.

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Credits - DNA