Is there a thing called too much Ayushmann Khurrana?

Ever since Ayushmann Khurrana made his debut with the sleeper hit, Vicky Donor, he has managed to carve out a niche for himself by choosing scripts (some of them at least) that revolve around how Indian middle class reacts to “sex”. The films are entertaining, tongue-in-cheek and Ayushmann should be thankful that filmmakers who’ve chosen to walk on this tight rope with him haven’t let him or the films down. That’s the power of intelligent writing i guess.

From sperm donation to having to deal with his pregnant parents, he’s done it all.

Vicky Donor was as “classy” a message film that mainstream Bollywood could roll out. The film in its own subtle way dealt with the issue of not being able to have children (suggesting “adoption” as a viable and a beautiful alternative), it talked about “sperm” and about how there’s no shame in donating some, also made a case for NOT raising children with the burden of parents’ dreams/ expectations and that it is NO big deal to get remarried. In one of the scenes, Annu Kapoor (munching Kachori) explains through a cute, cartoonish gesture with his fingers in a scissoring motion, thereby conveying a very taboo subject to a family-friendly audience how sperms swim across to their destination. That’s probably the only way to educate the Indian masses about the aforementioned topics. Popular Hindi cinema has a far wider outreach than big budgeted art house documentaries. Period.

Dum laga ke haisha dealt with issues of fat-shaming head on. People around Sandhya (one of the leads played by a terrific debutante Bhumi Pednekar) resort to fat-shaming her but she brushes it off as a function of her body’s metabolism. She’s also seen dancing gleefully to 90’s style music helmed by Kumar Sanu. He’s had to deal with getting forcibly married to an ambitious woman who’s clearly got more education, guts and a practical take on things. To make matters worse, he hasn’t cleared his board exams and has to live with parents who boss him around. Ayushmann played the character with the right amount of heft and innocence. His triumph at the end, both literally and figuratively conveys the character arc.

Shubh Mangal Savdhan came as close as a mainstream Hindi film could to talk about erectile dysfunction. It manages to break the patriarchal notions of masculinity that have been perpetuated for as long as I can recollect by the popular strain of Hindi cinema that has been built around the notion of “Mard ko Dard nahi hota”. The film was generally pleasant and inoffensive even when it directed sharp barbs at the social order that imposes its standard idea of masculinity on all men, without allowing space for the possibility of behavioral variations. Could you even expect films on such taboo topics let alone nuance, say, a decade ago and how many actors would have owned the part the way Ayushmann did?

What he managed to pull off in AndhaDhun is no mere joke either. As a blind pianist who gets mixed up in a murder, he brings in the right amount of authenticity to the part yet keeps it playful and light. He wasn’t the typical boy next door. He has shades of grey but considering how the other characters operate around him, he might as well be playing Lord Ram. Another actor would’ve been tempted to overplay the juicier bits because why not? But Ayushmann keeps it grounded there too.

I must admit, the moment I saw the trailer of Badhaai ho, it had me hooked. This is Ayushmann’s space; it’s probably a sub-genre that he’s worked for himself and how! As a son who suddenly has to deal with how society reacts to his parents getting pregnant, he infuses the right amount of innocence and wits that the Indian middle-class milieu has to offer. The film also touches upon parents and their sex life, elder women and their right to vanity, society and their misplaced judgement without ever being preachy or coming down with a sledge hammer.

While Akshay Kumar’s films (and even Ads these days – Kajaria) on toilets and sanitary pads are being hailed as his “service” to the nation (In reality, I don’t see much difference between his films and public service announcements for a certain political party. Some of the lines he utters in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha seem to have been a memo sent from the PMO’s office), Ayushmann along with the filmmakers who’ve worked with him have been instrumental in normalizing discussions on taboo topics at the dinner table which is no small feat.

Even the films that I haven’t mentioned above (Hawaizaada, Bareilly ki Barfi and Nautanki Saala) have added to the actors’ credibility despite their disappointing run at the box office. I’ve recently seen an interview where Ayushmann made a point (after the failure of Hawaizaada) to look at scripts as an audience first and not as an actor which is interesting as the films that followed Hawaizaada have been nothing short of a game changer for the theater actor turned VJ turned main stream Hindi cinema lead. He admitted to signing Bareilly ki Barfi knowing that Rajkumar Rao would walk away with the best lines in the film which is a sign of an actor who’s secure and content to work with what’s offered to him.

So, I come back to my question…. Is there a thing called too much Ayushmann Khurrana? The answer is a big fat NO. In the age of Arjun Kapoors and Tiger Shroffs and Aayush Sharmas rolling out their leave your brains behind nonsense, Bollywood needs big doses of Ayushmann to keep the boat afloat from sinking. Ayushmann Bhava!