Ayushmann Khurrana: Had to reach out to wider audience so I could do my kind of films

Ayushmann Khurrana reflects on why box office success matters to him and how he plans to continue doing disruptive and unique cinema

The month of August 2023 saw three franchise films dominating the box office. Gadar 2, OMG 2, and ‘Dream Girl 2’ helped in reviving the Hindi film box office and helped bring in a lot of people back to the theatres. For Ayushmann Khurrana, it was double celebration as his film 'Dream Girl 2' also gave him his career's highest opening. The film sees Ayushmann cross-dress as a woman named Pooja which leads to a lot of chaos and comical confusion. The film, as suggested by the title, is the sequel to its successful prequel ‘Dream Girl’ that was released in 2019. Talking to mid-day.com, Ayushmann says there are largely pros to being part of a sequel. “You have the credibility of the previous one. It’s a franchise and people go with that credibility and it reflects the opening of the film, if you carry that nostalgia forward. and con would be offcourse there are heavy expectations. And those expectations need to be reached and that benchmark needs to be reached. But I am glad that opeople are loving the sequel as well,” he said.

Ahead of the release of the film, Ayushmann had said that they were clear about the target audience of the film. This was not for the 'woke' audience but the team believes they never crossed a line with the jokes in the film. "With the ‘Dream Girl’ franchise, we were clear in our heads that this is not for the woke audience. This is not for the intelligent audience. It’s like 'apne ghar par dimaag rakho aur bas film dekho'. Just laugh out loud, comedy, very massy and just the opposite of progressive and the kind of cinema I am known for. But we were clear about that, it was supposed to do whatever was happening right now, to get the box office numbers," he said,

"We have reached our desired audience and nothing is sweeter than Box office success. The last two films of mine, 'Doctor G' and 'An Action Hero', were critically well-acclaimed, but they could not do much at the box office. So I had to reach out to a wider audience, so I could do my kind of films again. It empowers you to stick to your core. I think box office is important in theatricals," he added.

When one thinks of Ayushmann Khurrana, words like disruptive, clutter-breaking, and unique cinema come to mind. When asked if he wants to break free from the tag, he said, "Disruptive cinema will always be intriguing for the audience. I also feel that a film like 'An Action Hero', if released now would have done much better. I can't stay away from quirk, disruption or clutter-breaking content. I have been known for that. Even with 'Dream Girl' it is still clutter-breaking. Nobody has transitioned to a woman character in the past 30 years I think. In recent memory, it would have been Govinda ji in 'Aunty No. 1'. So I think that will always be part of my filmography- disruption and uniqueness in content."

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