In my early days in Mumbai, I stayed in a medical college hostel, says Ayushmann Khurrana – Times of India

Somehow, over the last decade, films on tricky, taboo and risky subjects – ranging from sperm donation and erectile dysfunction to same-sex relationships and premature balding – have been headlined by Ayushmann Khurrana, who turns them all into believable narratives. Keeping up with the trend he has set for himself, the actor once again chose to pick a role that has not been portrayed in Hindi cinema before. Junglee Pictures’ Doctor G, which releases in theatres tomorrow, will see Ayushmann step into the shoes of a reluctant

gynaecologist — and the only male doctor in an all-women department.

Interestingly, before he became an actor, Ayushmann aspired to be a doctor, but then he followed his heart and pursued his passion to become an actor. Also, interestingly, during his struggling days, he stayed with a friend on a medical college campus. Recounting that phase of his life, Ayushmann shares, “I had opted for physics, chemistry, biology in my 11-12th grade and aspired to be a doctor. I got one seat in some remote college in dentistry, but eventually, I decided that I always wanted to be an actor. I am still in touch with a lot of my batchmates who went on to become doctors.”

Ayushmann says, “During my struggling days, when I came to Mumbai, I had no place to stay. I had a friend who did his MBBS from KEM Hospital, and he told me, ‘Tu hostel me reh le.’ At first, I was unsure how that would happen, but then I ended up staying there for a month. I shared the room with two guys, and I remember it was so humid that we would sleep in our chaddis. I would even wear a lab coat when I entered and exited the premise. During that time, I would go out to give auditions for roles. It was so bizarre, and now it feels so surreal that I am a part of Doctor G.”

When asked what his medical fraternity friends feel about him playing this role in Doctor G, he says, “My doctor friends say that this is the first time the medical fraternity has been taken seriously in a film. Generally, waise hi dikhaate hain…ke hamne injection de diya hai, ab sab kuch theek ho jaayega. And the character in the film asks, “Doctor saab, mein dekh toh payunga na?” So this film is nothing like that, and the medical community is very excited about watching the film.”

Doctor G also features Rakul Preet Singh, Shefali Shah and Sheeba Chadha in pivotal roles. Director Anubhuti Kashyap explains how Ayushmann got into the zone for the medical campus comedy. She says, “Ayushmann doesn’t shy away from bold topics, evident from his choices so far. I still remember we had narrated the film to him the day after Bala’s success party. Although he had allocated a limited window to us, he started enjoying the narration so much that he just decided to call off everything else. Right after the narration, he expressed that he liked it and wanted to make it work. Ayushmann likes films that are conversation-

starters, and he’s a feminist deep down. So, it didn’t need any extra coaxing on our part.”

Given that the film was shot during one phase of the pandemic, the actors had to prep for their parts through video calls. Anubhuti shares, “Though Ayushmann couldn’t train physically, he prepared himself really well through the video calls. And the fact that he had spent time on a medical college campus during his early days as an actor gave him an edge. He was familiar with the kind of life people lead in hostels of medical colleges. He got a sense of how to step into the character much faster.”