Ayushmann Khurrana finally speaks on the Bala-Ujda Chaman controversy

Ayushmann Khurrana finally breaks his silence on the controversy surrounding his film Bala and the Sunny Singh-starrer, Ujda Chaman.

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana says he is not worried about the plot similarities between his film Bala and Ujda Chaman, both stories of men dealing with premature balding. Directed by Amar Kaushik, Bala stars Ayushmann as a young bald man while Ujda Chaman, a remake of the 2017 Kannada movie Ondu Motteya Kathe, features Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety star Sunny Singh in a similar role.

The first look poster of Ujda Chaman had said "takle ki pehli aur original film" (first and original film of a bald man). Ayushmann said Bala aims to celebrate complexes and is about self-love."The word takla is quite derogatory. It's not celebrating self-love. It isn't about just receding hair or baldness. It's about loving and discovering yourself more than anything else. We shot our film first, announced our film first. There's just one line which is similar otherwise it's a different film. I've seen the South film after we completed the shoot. Once you see the film, you'll realise (the difference)," Ayushmann said in a group interview.

When asked if he is bothered that both the films are releasing almost back-to-back, the actor said, "It happened with Bhagat Singh also. I'm really confident about our film; it's a beautiful film and one of the best scripts I've ever read. Anybody can come up with the same idea.” Earlier this year, a writer had claimed that Bala was based on a script he had narrated to Ayushmann, alleging that he was not given any credit for his story. Aysuhmann, however, said that out of all the scripts on the story, he went with the best team.

"I got the same idea by six different people. I'll just go with the person who is more credible. There was a film called Hair is Falling in 2011 and there were a lot of films which were made on receding hairline but just that they weren't successful. It's my decision to go with the best director, the best producer and choose the best script on the subject. As simple as that."

Ayushmann said with Bala, scheduled to release on November 7, he approached baldness with empathy."I've ventured into far-fetched territories like sperm donation and erectile dysfunction; this was the most common one... It's just the empathy I thought about. I've met both kinds of people, those who are bothered by it, those who don't care about it.

"The idea is to have the side more prominent which says that you shouldn't be bothered about it. That's also the message of our film," he added.

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!