Ayushmann Khurrana Reveals Why He Changed The Spelling of His Name And It's Not Because Of Astrology

Badhaai Ho to Ayushmann Khurrana, as the actor will be smiling all the way to the bank with his film, which set to enter the Rs 100 crore club this week. Talking to Neha Dhupia on her chat show No Filter Neha, the actor had said that he had expected the film to collect at least Rs 60 crore at the box office, but it is now touching almost Rs 90 crore. Not only this, the actor opened up about a lot of things on the show.

The first thing that strikes one about the actor is the spelling of his name. While his fans doubt that he is astrologically inclined, the actor made it clear that the credit for adding extra alphabets to his name goes to his father, who is an astrologer. He said that he doesn’t follow astrology but follows his father, and therefore changed the spelling of his name on his advice.  

Interestingly, Ayushmann wanted to play Rani Mukerji’s role in her last film Hichki. The actor said that director Siddharth P Malhotra had approached him with the script but when he approached Aditya Chopra to produce it, the YRF scion realised that a female protagonist was more apt for the role. And the role eventually went to his wife Rani, who was highly appreciated for her performance in the film, in which she plays a teacher with Tourette syndrome.

Talking about his struggles, the AndhaDhun actor revealed that he thought of taking a sabbatical after completing his education to figure out his career and do theatre in the meantime. The actor, who has delivered 10 films in a span of seven years, was immediately told to pack his bags and leave for Mumbai to achieve his dream. Since the actor had no support system in Mumbai, he lived with his friend, a medical student, in a cramped college hostel room shared by three. Ayushmann fooled around the hospital as a medical student in a lab coat and used the hospital’s gym for two months.  

The Shubh Mangal Saavdhan actor also expressed his desire to write a script one day. On being asked about his dream cast, the actor named Ranbir Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone as the actors that he would like to direct.