Ayushmann Khurrana is back with another quirky subject, this time, he takes on the bold theme of homosexuality in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. Jitendra Kumar aka Jeetu who’s famous for his roles in shows like The Viral Fever and Kota Factory plays his love interest in the film.
The trailer created enough buzz and before the film hits the big screens on Feb 21, we engaged in a breezy chat with the ‘men of the moment’, Ayushmann and Jeetu.
Ayushmann started off by describing the shift in people’s perceptions from his childhood days till today. “We have changed as a society. Earlier, gay characters were a sidekick, they were caricatures. I was in an all boys’ college. I was not very open about the idea of homosexuality. I have seen this journey of mine from being unaware to do this film. It's a giant leap.”
In today’s times, we see lots of men and women opening up about their sexuality, so we wanted to know how Ayushmann’s acquaintance has been with the LGBTQ community. He says it was gradual and today, he is of the belief that “equality should persist irrespective of your gender orientation”.
We asked Jeetu how was it working with Ayushmann and did he get those initial jitters. The actor says, “I was little nervous initially but after the first day, it was all normal.”
We have seen the rushes of the trailer and we can’t miss talking about the lip-lock between Ayushmann and Jeetu to which Ayushmann quickly says, “It was as normal as kissing a girl on screen; as a character you should be ready for anything. Of course being a heterosexual guy, it was different. But being in the character, it was need of the hour. "
Jeetu adds, "We had a chat prior to that and the atmosphere on the sets was quite comfortable.”
With the decriminalization of Section 377, we wanted to know if the film will help them take another leap in the forward direction. Ayushmann Khurana says, “It is just the introduction of homosexuality to the common folk who are averse to homosexuality. It is not like a love story between two boys. It is like a family entertainer.”
We then shift the topic towards understanding and trying to know when will Ayushmann change gears and shift to other genres as most of his films harp on various issues to which he states, “To break the mould, I would love to do an action thriller. I would love to do something which is out of my safe zone.” He further adds, “Ambience, milieu, set-up maybe repetitive, but the subject will be new.”
Next, he talks about Kartik Aaryan’s recent comment which got him massively trolled wherein he said that ‘Ayushmann does films which have problems with men, while I don films that delve into problems with women.” The actor had a very fun response to it.
And finally, he spoke about how his wife Tahira Kashyap reacted on his kissing scene in the film.
Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is written and directed by Hitesh Kewalya, produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and also stars Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao in pivotal parts.
Image Source:- youtube/tseries
Image Source:- youtube/tseries