Amitabh Bachchan, for whom 2020 marks his 51st year in Bollywood, will not let a casual reference to actor Ayushmann Khurrana as "a rising star" pass and he did not. In a recent interview with American publication The Hollywood Reporter, Amitabh Bachchan decided to "correct" a question before proceeding to answer it. Big B co-stars with Ayushmann in Gulabo Sitabo, which is their first film together. Ahead of Gulabo Sitabo's world premiere on Amazon Prime, Big B was asked about his experience of working with Ayushmann in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, which referred to the 35-year-old actor as "a rising star." And this was Mr Bachchan's reaction: "Correction, Ayushmann Khurrana, is not a rising star." Explaining the meaning of Ayushmann's name to the foreign publication, Big B said that Ayushmann's status in the Hindi film industry is a perfect reflection of his name: "He is a very risen prominent star, living up to his name Ayushmann, which means long lasting, longeval."
In the last two years, Ayushmann Khurrana starred in five films, all of which earned shouts outs from the audience and critics alike. Four of his five releases - AndhaDhun, Badhaai Ho, Dream Girl and Bala crossed the Rs 100 crore mark at the box office.
Meanwhile, Amitabh Bachchan also termed the often-asked query about describing an actor's experience of working with a co-star as a "cliche": "With due respect, the oft repeated question 'how was it working with him' in all such interviews is most cliched." Mr Bachchan said that professionalism and the project are the only priorities when actors are on set: "We are all considered professionals and when we work on a project we all wish to bring the best output in the interests of the film. If we do not enjoy the company of our colleagues the project suffers." But summing up his experience in a few words, here's what Mr Bachchan told The Hollywood Reporter: "The final outcome of (Gulabo Sitabo) will be decided by the audience of course, but I can tell you, that working on it has not been a suffering!"
Ayushmann, who has so far headlined the casts of his films, earlier had said that he was pretty nervous about working with the megastar of Bollywood - Amitabh Bachchan. However, Ayushmann's nervousness doesn't reflect on screen at all.
Directed by Shoojit Sircar, Gulabo Sitabo features Ayushmann Khurrana as Baankey, aka Sitabo - a young, shrewd, not-so-well off and hot-headed tenant, always at odds with Big B's character Mirza, the titular Sitabo, who is an aged and grumpy landlord. Gulabo Sitabo releases on Amazon Prime tomorrow.
