With back-to-back hits and a National Award to his credit Ayushmann Khurrana has emerged as the go-to star for quirky stories, a space that the actor says he always wanted to capture.
The 34-year-old star, who made his foray into showbiz with reality TV and went to become a successful radio jockey and video jockey before making his Bollywood debut with "Vicky Donor", believes being on the periphery of the entertainment industry for a long time prepared him to make better choices.
"I was always aware about what I wanted to do. I had rejected a lot of films before 'Vicky Donor', it was a big thing for somebody who was not from the industry. Somebody else would have just grabbed any opportunity, but I was not like that.
"Coming from a journalistic background where I interviewed many actors, I have seen the rise and fall of a lot of actors from the other side. So, I could learn from their experiences and their mistakes. I always thought that my first film should be path breaking and it happened," Ayusmann told PTI in an interview.
Having achieved the kind of success that would be any aspiring actor's dream, Ayushmann is aware that one tends to get caught in the "bubble" that Bollywood is.
His way of dealing with the pitfalls that comes with stardom is to stay away from "yes-men".
"It is important to stay close to people who will give you objectivity in your life, are critical of your work and who are there to help you evolve as a person. One should stay away from yes-men.
"You can't live in a bubble and just be with the industry people. One needs to meet people from the real world. They are the ones to give you the fodder as an artiste to just put those experiences across on celluloid. I make it a point to meet people from different walks of life."
"Most of my films are a bit subtle but this is a hardcore commercial movie. It was one of the things in my bucket list and I have ticked it out now. Raaj is an incredible writer. He comes from a massy one-liner space and that helped the film a lot."