EXCLUSIVE | Ayushmann Khurrana on 'Thamma' success: 'It became the biggest opener of my career, was jamming with Dinesh Vijan-Amar Kaushik for five years'

Ayushmann Khurrana came back on the big screen after a gap of two years with Maddock Horror Comedy Universe’s new offering titled Thamma. It opened to a terrific response at the box-office and collected Rs 24.11 crore. The total collections so far are Rs 107 crore and it’s all set to be one of the biggest hits of the actor’s career after Bala and Dream Girl.

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the leading man spoke about the staggering success of his new theatrical outing, entering the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe, and the fight scene with Varun Dhawan as Bhediya.

Edited excerpts from the interview

You have delivered two back-to-back Rs 100 crore hits with Dream Girl 2 and Thamma. Both are very unique films but are also more massy than what you have earlier chosen. Was there a conscious shift in this content choice? And if yes, what was the reason behind it?

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Dream Girl has always been like a mass frontbencher kind of a film. Thamma is also for a wider audience. My choices are versatile because also because as an audience myself, I like to watch every kind of film. Since childhood, I’ve been watching a lot of commercial films also. So this gives me a wider base of audience. So even if I take a different subject in future, that subject will be held by these films. For example, in the past, Article 15 was held by a film like Badhaai Ho and Andhadhun. So I guess I would love to choose diverse subjects for diverse audiences.

With Thamma being a success, are we going to see you more often on the big screen? And what is going to make you sign a film now?

After Thamma, I’m looking forward to Pati Patni Aur Woh Do, which releases on Holi. That’s my second festival release after Diwali. So I’m really excited about it, followed by Dharma-Sikhya collaboration. And then Sooraj Barjatya’s film. So there’ll be three film releases next year. So all three are very different from each other. So I’m really excited about it.

And what would you like to say about the success of Thamma? How do you feel? What kind of a place are you in right now?  

I’m very excited. I feel validated. My first festival release, that Diwali release, my biggest opener of my career. It’s quite a thing because it’s like a checkbox in every actor’s filmography. So it happened this time. And I’m sure it’ll help my other films also to do well in future because it helps me to reach out to a wider audience.

Talking about franchises, you have started the most number of franchises amongst your contemporaries and that too with unique content. How do you feel about that? And again, did this happen proactively? Were you looking at something like this or it was just something that worked out?

Well, I think you should not go for a franchise or a sequel till the time you have nothing new to say to the audience. With Shubh Mangal Saavdhan and Zyaada Saavdhan, both were different subjects. Both were taboo subjects. And with Dream Girl 1 and Dream Girl 2, though the core was the same, we took the story to another level. So I think till the time you don’t have something new to say, you should not go ahead with it. Now I’m doing Pati Patni Aur Woh Do, carrying forward the 1978 legacy of B. R. Chopra. Again, it’s a new story and a fresh take to it. So one should not do a sequel just for the heck of it. There has to be some uniqueness and some newness that should be offered to the audience.

What do you have to say about Dinesh Vijan’s horror-comedy universe going from strength to strength?

Maddock horror-comedy universe is the most successful universe in Indian cinema. And I’m glad that I’m a part of it. I’m a huge fan of this universe. My brother is an intrinsic part of Stree. And I have been jamming with Dinesh Vijay and Amar Kaushik for the past five years, how to be a part of this universe. Because I want to do something which I want to watch on screen. And this is exactly that. And I’m excited that we have done decent, as an origin story, the genesis of a new character, a new legacy of Thamma.

It was really heartening to see you and Varun Dhawan together on the big screen. And we hope that we see more of you together in the coming films of MHCU. But what was your take on your battle with Bhediya?  

I think it’s the highlight of the film. This is the first time I have done a child-friendly film. I’ll take this again. So when I was jamming with Amar Kaushik five years back, he wanted to make a film specifically keeping children in mind. And this sequence was specifically designed for them. And we’ve gotten great feedback of this set piece in the second half, the Thamma versus Bediya fight. And I’m sure that we’re going to collide our parts again in future films of the universe. So I’m really excited about it.