TRIPLE THREAT

Possibly the most memorable — and significant — hattrick in a very long time, Ayushmann Khurrana changed the game this year with three releases, all superhits, and has established himself as the most important leading man in the industry who is entertaining, reliable and outrageously talented

- Arnesh Ghose

During our chat for this cover interview, Khurrana tells me a story about how he was a triple threat in school — he was one of the few boys who could act, sing and dance. At that moment, I knew what my headline would be. It is also coincidental that, this year, Khurrana has been nothing less than a triple threat in the industry. A certain resurgence that kicked off two years back with Shubh Mangal Saavdhan gathered momentum last year with Andhadhun and Badhaai Ho to finally create fireworks and shatter records this year with Article 15, Dream Girl and Bala. The man might have, single-handedly, changed the personality of mainstream Bollywood cinema.

The Bollywood Hero has always had a Sophie's Choice to make — aspirational or relatable. Stars like Amitabh Bachchan to a Hrithik Roshan and even a Tiger Shroff are aspirational, too-good-to-be-true. They are kept alive by myths and gossip, because very few people have been able to be up-close-personal with them. Even with social media ruining private lives, you can clearly see that what you consume is a manicured, calculated product. Someone like Salman Khan traversed the curve from one point to another. He was aspirational at one point with his bikes, biceps and bevy of women, to becoming a middle-aged, supposedly wise, older brother, who was one of the masses. So, the Bhai-loving fandom went from wanting to be him to realising that he has become like them. Khan wasn't a rich Barjatya brat anymore. He had become Chulbul Pandey.