A lawyer-turned-Radio Jockey-turned-actor, Aparshakti Khurana has stolen the limelight in Bollywood with his fashion sense and persona. A total inspiration for the youth, he is one of the industry’s most sought after character player and a rooted man at heart. In a heartwarming chat with Team Storiyaan, the heartthrob of B-town talks about quarantine, life behind-the-scene, and his life in general.Â
Interview
Questions and answers
Your journey started off with the audition for Roadies. Can you tell us a bit about it?
At that time, it was just mandatory to go and audition for Roadies. It was a part of our college life to be very honest and our professors would come and ask us whether we were auditioning for roadies or not. So at that time, it was a very cool thing to do. I also tried my luck in Roadies, but I couldn’t make it to the end. Perhaps, life had some other plans!
Not many know that you once captained the Under-19 Haryana Cricket Team. What is the story behind it?
I played for the Under-19 Haryana and I have also played inter-university. I took cricket very seriously in my college life and I started feeling that maybe I am not good enough. There was a fast bowler in our academy and I started feeling that I couldn’t bowl the way he did. It is essential to understand your space and work accordingly. I saw a couple of people in my team and felt I was not as good as them. I went back and connected to my real self and asked myself if that is what I want to do in life. I started focusing on different curricular activities and then joined a radio station. A lot of people say that Dangal was my turning point in life, but I would label this as the turning point in my life.
You have hosted a few television shows along with doing movies and being a radio jockey. What do you enjoy the most?
I have enjoyed radio the most. It is the closest to my heart as I love music and it brings the best out of me. It is the most uncorrupted medium and you get pure and unconditional love from your audience. Out of acting and anchoring, I can’t choose one. Anchoring gives you a chance to be yourself, whereas acting allows you to do unconventional roles. Out of the three, I would pick up Radio Jockeying.
What is the most recent rumour that you have heard about yourself?
It’s about Ranveer Singh and me working together in Jayeshbhai Jordaar. That is the latest one that I have heard. The rumour is also on the internet that I am working in the film. I am not a part of the film. However, Ranveer is like a brother to me, and I would love to work with him.
We have heard that you have an emotional side off-screen. What would you like to say about that?
I do have a big emotional side to me. If I watch a Shahrukh Sir’s film with an emotional scene in it, I will start crying. If I see my brother winning an award, I will cry in a jiffy and I don’t want to change that even when I grow old. I feel that we should normalize this as much as possible because it’s not just girls who cry, men cry too and that is what makes us human, isn’t it?
Did you have a privileged childhood like any other star kid? How was your childhood?
My father was working very hard to provide us with the best of everything and we were doing good. But having said that, my father was a hard taskmaster, so he gave us the luxuries of life only when he felt that we needed it. We had a very normal childhood; we travelled by local trains and buses. So we had the best of both worlds, which is the reason why we are close to our roots. Often it happens that when people get a little famous, they feel they have achieved it all, but for me, it is always a start, and I feel I have a long way to go.
What is happiness to you? How would you define it?
For me, happiness is my chai-biscuit. My day starts with a chai and ends with it. Happiness is not just doing a movie or a song with T-series. Happiness to me is my home and my chai, and I know for sure that nobody will be able to take it from me.
From working in Dangal alongside Aamir Khan to acting an intense character of an illegal homeless immigrant in Street Dancer. How does it feel to have come so far in your career?
I don’t know if I have reached that far since I am still learning and taking baby steps towards a lot of things. From a good line of comedy films to entering an intense character in Street Dancer, I think it was quite satisfying and I have loved portraying that character. I totally loved working with Varun and Shraddha and I have a lot of respect for Bhushan Sir as well. Overall, it was a beautiful experience.
How are you spending your quarantine and what do you feel is a must to do in the self-isolation period?
I have a fixed schedule and I am always working. I have lined up my workout, my meetings, script readings, a few Instagram and Facebook live sessions and a little bit of pampering for myself. Every night before I go to sleep, my wife and I make sure to watch something on the OTT platforms. It is very important to be productive and have a proper schedule so that when the lockdown ends, you do not feel very lethargic or in a mood to not work.
A lot of our readers are young adults who face self-worth and body image issues. What is that one piece of advice that you would like to convey to them?
All I would like to say is life is very simple. It is we who complicate it. If we try to over-think, over-calculate and do a lot of planning, things might go haywire. Stay in the moment and appreciate everything that you have. Someone will always have more than you and someone else is praying for what you have right now.