“Nautanki Saala is in a Quirky Space” Ayushmann Khurrana

‘Nautanki Saala’ seems to be one film which has a quirky sense of humour. Is that so?
Well, humour here isn’t slapstick for sure; it is very subtle. It is not continuously placed in the narrative either, it is sporadic. Yes, it is in quirky space.

It also appears that the film isn’t being slotted as one of those regular comic affairs that arrive in the dozens.
It will still bring a smile on your face though when you step out of the theatre. It is sweet and nice film where nobody is trying too hard to make you laugh. There are no gags being played. It is a New Age comedy. As a matter of fact I don’t even want to brand it is quintessential comedy either.

The moment a film has sequences set in theatre, one is immediately reminded of ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’. So do we have any reference points here?
See, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron is a cult film. However in that film it was the climax where theatre came into picture. On the other hand in our film theatre is a whole world which is a character in itself. Interestingly, the name of the play that we are doing in the film is called Raavan Leela.

Guess in the film, there are quite a few women around this ‘Raavan’ though. Wasn’t that distracting?
(Smiles) Well, I am quite a selfish actor. I concentrate on my role and performance. If it offers me a great potential, I do it.

So what sort of potential did you see in ‘Nautanki Saala’?
For starters, I liked the fact that it was based on theatre. I have done theatre during my earlier days and it has been an integral part of my life. Now it is also an integral part of Nautanki Saala. I am playing an actor and a director in the film. Theatre lends a very solid background to the turn of events.