Commemorating the occasion of World Theatre Day, Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana on Sunday spoke about how street theatre has played an invaluable hand in shaping the artist he is today.
Ayushmann, who did serious theatre for five years, during his college days, has also done several plays at the Gaiety Theatre in Shimla. He was also the founding member of DAV College’s Aaghaaz and Manchtantra, which are active theatre groups in Chandigarh.
On World Theatre Day, Ayushmann stated that his tryst with acting started with street theatre and that’s what made him feel confident about the fact that he could entertain people with his skills. “Street theatre actually set my foundation to become a fearless performer. I became not afraid to take risks and I’m hugely grateful for this because it has shaped who I have become today,” he said.
Ayushmann further said that for him theatre “can be introspective, critical about society and what we are becoming and also serve as a gateway to fantasize about a world that doesn’t exist.” “I have learnt so much from theatre because it challenges you to push your boundaries so that you can entertain and engage with audiences in a much deeper and interactive manner. I have taken my learnings from doing theatre and tried to emulate them for my on-screen performances and choice of scripts,” continued the ‘Article 15’ actor.
For Ayushmann, theatre taught him to shed his inhibitions, which has been evident from his quirky film choices which include ‘Vicky Donor’, ‘Shubh Mangal Savdhaan’ and ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’, among others. Speaking about this, Ayushmann said, “Theatre can be a boundless form of self-expression and I realized back then that if I had to become a good artist, I will need to constantly push myself to shed my inhibitions and pick projects that challenge my notion of how acting should be.”
“I have enormous respect for theatre and theatre actors and whenever I get a chance, I try to make time to watch great performances and productions,” he added. Ayushmann will be next seen in Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Anek’, Anubhuti Kashyap’s ‘Doctor G’ and film-maker Aanand L. Rai’s ‘Action Hero’, which is being directed by debutant Anirudh Iyer.
