‘I’m not here to become a star’

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RJing happened to him by sheer chance. Although he started off with law, he steered towards radio soon. Now a popular RJ and the younger brother of Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana, Aparshakti Khurrana is all set to follow his brother’s footsteps and enter the industry with Neeraj Pandey’s next film Saat Uchakke.
The script is what excited Aparshakti about the project. “It’s very close to reality and a true Neeraj Pandey movie like A Wednesday. Perhaps I didn’t have to try too hard to do justice to my character. My dad says that main toh shakal sey hi chor lagta hoon,” he chuckles.
While his brother made a sensational debut with Vicky Donor last year, does he too nurse dreams of starting his Bollywood innings with a content-rich film? “Vicky Donor was one of its kind and it was never my dream to be in films. But who wouldn’t want their first exam to go well, how the rest works out is a different story. I just hope this first chapter is a good read. Saat Uchakke might not make me a star overnight, at first place Manoj Bajpai is in the main lead and moreover I am not here to become a star or a hero. There is a difference between a star and an actor and I truly believe in the latter,” he reveals.
Aparshakti joined radio in Chandigarh as a copywriter with Oye 104.8 FM and a few years later, it is still a winding road for him. “You get to open your heart and speak your mind. You relate to people at the most personal level. Radio is real, whether you’re upset or happy it’s going to show. The voice never lies and perhaps it’s for this very reason that you connect with your listeners. The real you needs to be there everyday, pretence just won’t do,” he says.
His father, who’s an astrologer, was a part of Punjab University’s theatre group. His dadi loved being dramatic and mimicking Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar at home. His brother and he inherited that passion for acting. He says, “Theater is in my blood. My family loves it. It was fun growing up and theatre/drama/acting was just waiting to happen. But professionally theatre happened some three years back. Whereas acting started way back in school. I used to fool my teachers with my regular dramagiri.”
Aparshakti shares a fun relationship with big brother Ayushmann. Like other kids, they indulged in madness together, did all the stupid things two young pranksters would do. Has growing up and fame changed equations?
“Our bond is real, one for life. He’s not intrusive but if I have something to ask, advice to take, he’s there for me. We’re both very simple people. We grew up hearing dadaji’s Urdu poems. We’ve seen Papa work dedicatedly day and night to achieve what he wanted. Our basic characteristics are the same but our personalities are different. Bhaiya is the quiet one, I’m the mad horse. He’s calm, knows his business and handles it well. There’s so much to learn from him. We are critical of each other’s work. Bhaiya’s achieved a lot, I have miles and miles to walk,” he wraps up.