Ayushmann Khurrana Opens Up About That Role of a Sperm Donor in Vicky Donor

Unlike many mainstream actors, Ayushmann Khurrana began his journey by playing a sperm donor in his maiden movie, Vicky Donor. The movie, directed by Shoojit Sircar, talked about the issue of infertility among men, where Ayushmann played the role of a sperm donor. Talking about his unusual debut, the Badhaai Ho actor told Mumbai Mirror, “Shoojit da was looking for a quirky, Punjabi guy in his mid-20s to play the titular role in his romcom, Vicky Donor. He had seen me on MTV, where I was working as an anchor, and got in touch through casting director Jogi ji (Mallang) with whom I had auditioned for another film.”

“When I finally met Shoojit da, he did not audition me. He simply looked at me and said that he liked me and wanted me to be myself. Later, he admitted that he had known I was his Vicky Arora the minute I entered the room where Juhi (Chaturvedi, writer) and Ronnie (Lahiri, producer) were also present,” he added.

The Dream Girl actor also revealed that he and Yami Gautam are childhood friends. In fact, Ayushmann interned under Yami for a documentary.

Talking about his first shooting experience, Khurrana added, “Shoojit da is a director known for his subtlety and wanted me to tone down my voice but having been an anchor earlier, it was difficult for me to do so. He was patient with me and explained things but it still took me five to seven takes to internalise the subtlety he wanted from my performance.”

Opening upon how he, who earlier rejected six scripts, ended up choosing Vicky Donor, Khurrana said, “I was looking for that one unique project and the search ended with Vicky Donor. As far as the subject goes, it would have come as a shocker for me had I not been aware of sperm donation. When I was doing Roadies in 2004, we had to donate to a sperm bank in Allahabad as part of a task. Seven years later, when we were filming Vicky Donor, Shoojit da was pleasantly surprised that I not only knew about the process but it also didn’t make me cringe. I had been bowled over by the script!”

Follow @News18Movies for more