Music is in my genes-Ayushmann Khurrana

Ayushmann Khurrana on his musical background, influences and singing live
Sarita A Tanwar (DNA; April 4, 2016)


Is there a hidden talent in you that no ones knows about?
(Smiles) I think I have exposed a lot of my hidden talent starting from sperm donation to piggyback rides in Dum Laga Ke Haisha. I guess you just need one talent.

Like singing?
When I was an anchor, I used to sing a lot more at the jam sessions with my friends but when Paani Da Rang happened, and I got awards for it, I became slightly conscious about my singing. I realised that now people will judge me for my singing. Earlier, they would be pleasantly surprised that, ‘Oh this guy also sings.’ But I got awards for the song as a composer. As a musician, I had to prove I was worth it. I remember I was nominated with Arijit Singh and Sonu Nigam and I won all the awards — I guess it depends on the popularity of the song — but with that came a lot of pressure. So I started doing a lot more riyaz. Though I had classical training as a kid, I started taking it more seriously and got myself a teacher, I started doing gigs and concerts after Pani Da Rang. Earlier, I used to just sing for myself and my friends.

Are there any musicians in your family? Why the early learning classical learning?
My grandmother used to sing in a gurudwara, my father plays the flute, so music has always been in my family, in my genes. In fact, even my taste in music — it’s inherited from Sufi songs, ghazals, classical music. There are all purists in my family. I am also a purist at heart.

You dreamt of becoming an actor or a musician?
I always wanted to be an actor, but I started with a musical play in school. There was a play called Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I was part of the musical. I was co-captain of the school, and I was singing and acting simultaneously and even dancing at the time. But in college, I had to make a choice between music and theatre. I chose theatre because I thought it was more wholesome as an experience. While you are doing street or stage plays, you have to compose your own music, write down lyrics and sing songs while travelling, so I guess it helped.

Delhi has a lot of that, Mumbai does not have so much of theatre culture. Agree?
Yes, Mumbai has cinema and Delhi has more theatre. I guess in Mumbai there are interesting places to perform, like Prithvi and NCPA, but the real school is in Delhi — The National School of Drama. Street theatre culture is more in Delhi because it’s the capital as well, though I formed two theatre groups in Chandigarh — Aghaaz and Panchtantra — and we used to perform street plays across the nation. We even performed in Mumbai at Mood Indigo, IIT Powai. Every year, we used to come to perform and get the first prize.

As a singer, what’s your take on actresses like Sonakshi Sinha and Jacqueline Fernandez cutting music singles?
It’s amazing. The thing is when an actor is lip syncing for his or her own song, there is a certain simplicity about it, I think that works. For example, if you are not a trained singer and it is a simple song, then, it works.

Even if one is not a good singer, digitally everything is enhanced and anyone can sound like a great singer.
(Smiles) There is lot of technology, for sure. You can tweak a lot of stuff, you can auto-tune a lot of stuff. At the same time if you were lending words to your own character on screen it adds credibility. The real test though is when you are performing live. I perform for live events every now and then.

What’s your take on the Coldplay song shot in India?
I have not seen the music video. I have just fleetingly heard the song, but it’s amazing if you are a Coldplay fan — and I am. I performed Yellow recently at the Kala Ghoda Festival and it was amazing.