Ayushmann Khurrana, who recently won the National Film Award for best actor, says the recognition is an assurance that he is treading the right path by taking up slightly radical scripts that other artistes think twice before accepting.
In 2018, Ayushmann had back-to-back successes with Andhadhun and Badhaai Ho!, which he followed up this year with Article 15. He is now looking forward to the release of Dream Girl.
The actor said it is a responsibility to maintain a certain benchmark, which was established with his film debut Vicky Donor (2012).
Then came films such as Dum Laga Ke Haisha and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, which was the first film to feature a non-alpha male character in a mainstream film.
"This success gives me confidence that I am treading the right path and it also gives me the courage to chose different subjects. I stay true to my gut and intuition while saying yes to a script.
"I take a lot of risks and I have been doing it since my first film. Choosing scripts that are radical and are not easily acceptable by another artiste, I think that is my safety bracket, my zone. I have created a USP out of the characters that are risky," Ayushmann said.
He said public memory is short as there is too much for them to see.
"Every single week or fortnight there is a movie coming out and doing well, so people forget things. It is important to keep the ball rolling, remind them that you are there, you exist and you are out there to do something different."
Ayushmann said there was a phase right after Vicky Donor released when the viewers were ready to write him off but he bounced back.
"Every Friday depicts a different story. And your last hit determines what kind of love you are going to get. I have seen the other side also when my films after Vicky Donor were not working. There were a lot of people who were writing me off and suddenly now everybody is with me, I am talking about the audience. But there are certain followers or fans of mine who have been there with me in bad times."
