Ayushmann Khurrana: ‘I Don’t Look at Whether a Filmmaker Is Directing Their First or Tenth Film’

Ayushmann Khurrana, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film “Udta Teer”, says he doesn’t look at whether a filmmaker is directing their first film or their tenth film. He simply looks at whether they have a story and a vision that can excite him. Ayushmann has consistently worked in meaningful cinema such as Sharat Katariya’s Dum Laga Ke Haisha, R. S. Prasanna’s Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Raaj Shaandilyaa’s Dream Girl, Hitesh Kewalya’s Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Anubhuti Kashyap’s Doctor G, and now Akash A. Kaushik in Udta Teer.

His strongest commercial collaborations with debut directors include Dum Laga Ke Haisha and Dream Girl, while Udta Teer marks writer Akash A. Kaushik’s feature directorial debut. Ayushmann said: “For me, the script always comes first. I don’t look at whether a filmmaker is directing their first film or their tenth film…I look at whether they have a story and a vision that can excite me. Some of the most memorable experiences of my career have come from collaborating with new voices.”

“They bring hunger, freshness and the courage to look at familiar subjects differently. I have always believed that when the conviction behind a story is strong, it deserves to be supported.” In his latest collaboration Udta Teer, Ayushmann plays Bilal Ahmed, a Pakistani spy who suffers memory loss and begins to believe he is Indian. “Every new director brings a different energy to the set. With Udta Teer, what drew me in was not just the genre, but the world Akash had created. It is rare to find a script that can be chaotic, funny, emotional and rooted in a larger idea at the same time. I wanted to surrender to that vision and allow the character to take me somewhere unexpected.”

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