Celeb Talk: Comedy is not a priority, though it is always

Actor Aparshakti Khurana has become one of the most loved actors over time. Today, he is known for his performance, and is trying to reach even closer to the audience’s expectations. In an exclusive conversation with The Pioneer’s Tejal Sinha, Apar opened up about his recent song Hum Dono, the turning point in his life, his “real” life role as a father, and much more.

Without even thinking of proving anything to anyone, Aparshakti Khurana has still proved to be one of the most versatile actors in the industry.He is not only known for his roles as Omkar Singh Phogat in Dangal and Fahim Rizvi in Pati, Patni Aur Woh, but he also defines what a friend with a good sense of humour is.

It was only in his recent flick, Dhokha Round D Corner, that he played a grey and grim character like Haq Gul. Not that he couldn’t pull off the character so well, which he actually did. But no one could actually expect Apar to play such a character so well. After this abrupt change in the characters he had previously played, he was back in the spotlight with his music video, Hum Dono, starring alongside Jasmin Bhasin. The song was sung, written, and composed by the super-talented Arko Pravo Mukherjee. The music video was directed by Vijay A. Ganguly.

Without further ado, we rang a bell for the actor for a fun chat about his song Hum Dono, the transition in his characters with Dhokha Round D Corner, the actual transition in his life, his “real” life character of being a father, and much more. Oh! And wait! Apar reveals during a chat with us that his own song is coming up in just a couple of days.

To begin with, the Luka Chuppi actor stated that when Hum Dono came to him, it was something that energised him. He goes on, “It’s a very happy song, and anyone who is in love will resonate with it (he laughed). Aaj kal toh longe kuch zyada hi pyaar mai rehte hai. It was good to shoot, and we shot in Mussoorie. Vijay Ganguly directed it, and I have worked with Vijay sir so many times, starting from Kamariya in Stree to Luka Chuppi to the last music single, which is with Jasmine Yaaron Sab Dua Karo, and now Hum Dono. It’s exactly the same team that we had. We tried to come together, and we have been getting good love from people around us. Having said that, I haven’t sung this song. This song is sung, written, and composed by Arko, but I am coming with my own song super soon.”

When it comes to playing a negative, gray-grim character, there’s a lot that goes on, not only with the audience but also with the actor who plays it. After playing a character like Haq Gul, Apar was once again back with the ;Masti-mazak’ person in his music video, Hum Dono. And he claims that the song helped him get out of the dark zone he was in after Dhokha Round D Corner.

His character of Haq Gul was definitely not something we had ever expected Apar to play with such ease. Being known for playing these comedy roles, he believes that it is important for everyone to come out of their comfort zone.“Comedy will always be my comfort zone. This was something that I had not done before. People saw it and gave us lots of love and blessings; that really means a lot to me,” he added.

When it comes to the type of content that he wants to play, he said, “Comedy is not a priority for me. Apart from that, I want to do all kinds of formats, from real cinema to commercial cinema, from comedy to thriller to suspense to action. I’d love to do them all, as in, when the filmmakers feel confident that Apar will do the film in his own unique style.”

While many would wonder if his character of Haq Gul in Dhokha Round D Corner was an attempt to break away from the type of roles that he plays, he straightaway refuted it and said, “I don’t really try too hard to break away from anything. I am not here to prove a point to anybody; I do my work in the happiest and most comfortable way possible. Who should I prove my point too, and what’s the point of proving a point? You do not have to overestimate your life or try to prove a point to anybody. I am very happy with my life, and I will continue to do that for the rest of my life, till the time I am able to have complete sanity over my career.”

Apar is not someone who worries about the number, and so does his audience. “As an audience, I want to watch better performances than the numbers. However, if I talk as an artist, if I can be bluntly honest about it, I am not in a space where Apar comes on the big screen and people say he has to honestly do the math on numbers. When people think about me, they do not talk about 100 crores; they come to me for a very different reason, and I’m not in that space where I or the makers of my film need to worry about numbers,” he said, adding, “I’m in a very safe space where if my film comes out on OTT, that’s also fine, or if it comes out theatrically, that’s also fine. People don’t really expect that Apar’s film should only have a theatrical release. People know me for my performances, and as far as I have been able to deliver on their expectations, I have been able to do as much as possible.”

It was in 2021 when Apar and Aakriti were blessed with a baby girl, Arzoie A Khurana, and we cannot stop adoring the family’s cute and adorable videos that they post on their social media. “I wondered what he had to say about his “real” life and the never-ending role of a father,” he laughed out loud and further said, “This has been so far the most fun role that I’ve played, and touch wood, this has been the biggest blessing of my life. I never knew what I was missing in life until it happened. I am literally enjoying it, and there cannot be anything better and more beautiful than this.”

Coming back to professional life, Apar really wants to work with Vijay Sethupathi, Manoj Bajpayee, Jaideep Ahlawat, and Shefali Shah, who is totally on his bucket list when it comes to actors. Coming to the director, Vasan Bala right now is at the top of the list after watching Monica, Oh My Darling, and he is looking forward to working with him.

On the work front, he has completed working on a Zee Studio film called Berlin, a spy thriller in which he plays a sign language interpreter. Apart from this, he has also finished an Amazon original series called Jubilee, which also comes out next year and is directed by Vikram Aditya Motwani and features a never-before-seen character.

Oh! And how could we forget about his own song that’s coming out soon? Exclusively revealing some details about his own song, he signed off by saying, “The song’s name is titled Neendran, with Nikita Dutta. She is one of the most talented and real girls around. The song is composed by one of my colleagues in the music industry, Shashank-Shankar; they are from Punjab and have made a very beautiful melody. This song was shot in Turkey.”