Young Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana has always lived a feeling a patriotism and pride on Republic Day. The grand parade that displays India’s diversity, military might and cultural uniqueness is something he watches till date.
He says, “Republic Day for me meant watching the parade on Doordarshan and giving them our own rankings and marks of all the floats from the different states. My mother used to be really excited because she is from Delhi and she has seen all these floats live as a child.“
He adds, “And that excitement of course rubbed off on us and we too used to get excited. We used to watch every single program on TV – Indian Airforce, Army, Navy and all the state floats.”
Having played the common Indian man as a protagonist, flawed but kind-hearted and progressive, Ayushmann finds our nation’s capacity to integrate everyone as its most special identity.
He describes his idea of India as, “For me India is an idea of togetherness like we see unity in diversity. Diversity is our biggest strength and it really depends on us how do we take it forward.”
Ayushmann lives out his idea of patriotism in an evolving world and a fast-changing society through his selection of film roles. They represent good men dealing with challenging circumstances and overcoming true challenges.
He says, “As a citizen, as an actor – I would like to contribute to our nation by creating films that are progressive. I truly believe in the power of cinema and through my art I would like to showcase different perspectives.”
Ayushmann adds, “I have been part of two films Article 15 and Anek both with Anubhav Sinha sir – that’s also about unity. It questions our society and questions discrimination so I guess these three films are really on freedom.”
The power of film and the commitment of an artiste to his craft in the purest sense makes Ayushmann’s patriotism an example for others. He wiil be next seen in the sequel to his hit franchise Dream Girl 2.