As we talk about his uncommon lead roles, actor Ayushmann Khurrana smiles. “This is a genre that was created with Vicky Donor [his debut film, in 2012, in which he played a sperm donor]. It is like asking Tiger Shroff to quit action [films],” he says.
Three of his last four films saw him taking up characters that the typical Bollywood hero would prefer not to attempt: Badhaai Ho (2018) saw him as a young man struggling to come to terms with his mother’s late pregnancy; in Dream Girl (2019), he is someone who mimics a female voice and lands in trouble; in Bala (2019), he deals with premature balding. Article 15 (2019), in which he played a tough cop, was an exception. Now, in his latest film, Subh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan—that will be released on February 21—he plays a gay character along with Jitendra Kumar.
Bringing LGBTQI characters into mainstream Hindi films has always been difficult. The characters are often stereotyped, or the films tackling the subject are too serious. And, most mainstream actors shy away from gay roles. However, Khurrana “was actively looking for a script based on homosexuality”. He recalls how during the shooting of Dream Girl—a film based in Mathura—he saw two boys kissing in a parking lot. That was the moment he thought, “We are ready for this film [SMZS]”.
Directed by Hitesh Kevalya (writer of Shubh Mangal Saavdhan [2017], in which Khurrana played the role of a man with erectile dysfunction), the film’s trailer has been lauded by many for its boldness. Besides breaking stereotypes, the trailer features a kissing scene between the two lead characters.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 23, 2020 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 23, 2020 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
