Actor Ayushmann Khurrana revealed how his three successive films recently addressed the reason why his last three films—Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Anek and Doctor G, emerged as a box office failure. The actor who has selected scripts which are progressive in nature has made a statement that India is ‘homophobic’. This comes in alignment with his film Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui which revolves around a social message on the LGBTQ community.
Helmed by Abhishek Kapoor it also features Vaani Kapoor in the leading role as trans woman. It grossed at ₹3.75 crore in the first day in India and earned an overall ₹33.64 crore.
He elucidated on how his films underperformed, “I started with movies on taboo subjects. I suppose the type of subjects—it has to be a community viewing, and it has to have a wider film—the kids have also been watching. In fact, my last three films, including an LGBTQ film (Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui), really don’t do well commercially because, unfortunately, our country is homophobic. Then there was Anek, a docudrama that was a very niche in terms of the tone of the film. Doctor G was an A-rated film, and given the kind of certification it got, the film did decently well in theatres. For a while, that was my learning for making a film.”
He added, “If I stop taking risks, I will be conventional. I have always been unconventional, and I make those choices. I will be taking them in the future as well, regardless of success or failure. I just keep pushing the boundaries, and that’s the beauty of the budgeting of the films, too. My films are mostly low- to mid-budget, so no one loses money and I can afford to take risks.”
Ayushmann will appear in Anirudh Iyer‘s film An Action Hero which is slated to hit the theaters on December 2, 2022.