The dust seems to have finally settled down on the Kunal Kohli-Ayushmann Khurrana imbroglio and the director as well as the actor seems to have moved on. Ayushmann has clarified his stance on letting go of Kunal’s film (due to date conflict with Nautanki Saala) while the filmmaker too is expected to be looking at other prospective male leads. With the thought of letting bygones be bygones, Ayushmann sincerely hopes that the industry in general understands his point of view and the issue is buried for good.
After the news broke around Kunal’s anger for you, did you go and try talking it out with him?
I did not call him. He said something, I gave my official statement and that’s about it; I guess all of that is enough. I would definitely want to work with Kunal Kohli. I liked his Hum Tum and Fanaa. Now it is his prerogative if he would like to rope me in for another film.
What really went wrong though?
I don’t know really (sighs). The worst part of the whole affair is that I was living out of the suitcase for all these weeks. In fact after Vicky Donor, there has not been a single day when I have been free. May be it was a miscommunication on Management’s part also.
You seemed to have set your eyes on working only on A-listers…
See, nobody can say anything like this in such a definite manner. Casting and all is entirely a filmmaker’s call. I was busy with the shooting of Nautanki Saala shoot and was a little confused that whether I could start work on some other film in the meanwhile. I just said to Kunal that let’s not do this film and plan something else. Yes, the whole process took three long months and may he felt that I was delaying things. Still, frankly speaking I have no clue why he has so much of venom against me.
Are you finding yourself in the ‘fall guy’ space?
Not really because over a period of time, perceptions do change. I consider Twitter as a great barometer of how people perceive you and today, nine of ten people seem to have no issues with me dropping out. However, the kind of person that I am, even that one person who is telling me that ‘Hey Ayushmann, I thought you are a sweet person but you should not have done something like this’ is hurting me. Lekin ab main kis kis ko jaake bolon ki main achcha banda hoon?
