From wearing 'ladies perfumes' to playing a song for his entry and shaving after every four hours, actor Ayushmann Khurrana underwent all the challenges to activate his feminine energy for the role of 'Pooja' in 'Dream Girl 2'.
'Dream Girl 2' is the sequel to sleeper hit 2019 comedy drama 'Dream Girl' which starred Ayushmann alongside Nushrratt Bharuccha.
The film focused on a cross-gender man (played by Ayushmann) whose female voice impersonation begets attention from others, and talks about depression and loneliness.
It was a challenging role for Ayushmann considering he constantly had to switch between the two roles of Karam and Pooja, while all along ensuring the punches and comic timing hit the right note.
On Thursday, Ayushmann was present in the national capital for the launch of the song ‘Dil Ka Telephone 2.0’ from ‘Dream Girl 2’.
The actor looked dashing in an abstract print shirt with shades of yellow and black, paired it with a black pant, and completed the look with a brown tinted round frame sunglasses.
Talking about the preparations he went through for this film, Ayushmann said in a media interaction: “The most important work was on makeup, costume and VFX. Apart from that there has to be certain empathy. You have to awaken your feminine side.”
“For this film I was wearing ladies perfumes while shooting. I also used to play a song for my entry, so that the feminine energy gets activated, and then I can portray it on the big screen. Its not very easy, but a challenging role,” he shared.
“I used to shoot in 44 degrees in Mathura’s sun, with makeup, hair and ‘assembled’ things, that you can see in the film, is very difficult. After every four hours my beard used to grow, so I had to shave many times. It was not easy,” said the 38-year-old actor.
Further elaborating on the inspiration for the role, Ayushmann said: “I am not the first one to do this. I got inspiration from Govinda sir, Kamal Haasan sir from his ‘Chachi 420’ movie. In every era and generation, actors have done this kind of role. I also got inspiration from Hollywood flick 'Mrs Doubtfire'."
“I think it’s inspiring to see these actors explore the feminine side and convincingly play female characters. I will try to win ‘Best Actress’ award this time. This is my aspiration for this year,” he said.
Ayushmann also said that he had a tough competition in the form of Ananya Panday.
“She is beautiful and done a great job in the film, and I am the second heroine. I am the parallel lead. Around 60 per cent of the film I am playing Pooja, so that’s double the fun.”
The film also stars Abhishek Banerjee, Paresh Rawal, Vijay Raaz, Manjot Singh, Rajpal Yadav, Seema Pahwa, Mano Joshi, Annu Kapoor, and Asrani.
Helmed by Raaj Shaandilyaa and produced by Ektaa R Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor, 'Dream Girl 2' will release on August 25 in theatres.
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