Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet 2020 organized a session Article 15 to Section 377- Movies Are Us with Bollywood hit machine Ayushmann Khurrana and director Hitesh Kewalya on their next release, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan.

The actor-director duo was in conversation with Niranjan Iyengar.

The actor received huge applause the moment he went up on the stage.

Speaking about the film, the actor said “Times are changing and the audiences have become more open now. They can now accept things like homosexuality, sperm donation and so on. I am glad that I am working in this time when so much diverse topics are being made into films”.

Director Hitesh Kewalya mentioned how excited Ayushmann was when he heard the script.

Ayushmann threw light on one important aspect in between the conversation. “Actors think that they need to be different in every role that they do so as to please the audience. But that is not the case. The audience simply want a different story every time. That is all” added the actor.

Ayushmann’s parents have watched the trailer of his next film and they have appreciated it. That was a huge thing for the actor who felt that if his parents can accept such issues in the films, that shows the changing mindset of the audiences.

When asked whether he will venture into directing films, the actor said that he had a few ideas in mind. However at the moment he is enjoying acting and so venturing into direction will happen at a later time.

The actor apart from answering questions asked by the audience, also sang and recited a Shayeri on request from the assembled audience.

Priyanka Dutta