Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna starrer Thamma clocked Rs 25 crore on its first day, outperforming the opening-day numbers of previous Maddock Horror Comedy Universe (MHCU) films like Bhediya
(Rs 7.48 crore), Stree (Rs 6.82 crore), and Munjya (Rs 4 crore). It continues to hold strong at the box office and is slowly inching towards touching the Rs 150 crore mark globally. Its novelty quotient, cameos by Varun Dhawan and Abhishek Banerjee and meta jokes have struck a chord with the audience.
In a rather humorous scene, Abhishek’s Jana is seen referring to Ayushmann’s Alok as Bittu, his friend in Stree. The reference? Bittu’s character is played by Aparshakti Khurana, Ayushmann’s real-life brother. Now, speaking exclusively to News18 Showsha, the Thamma actor reacts to this meta humour and reveals that Jana confusing between Bittu and Alok was an improvisation that was done right before the shot was taken. “It was a last-minute inclusion,” he says with a laugh.
“It wasn’t there in the script. That scene was written at the last minute and it was either Amar Kaushik or Abhishek Banerjee who came up with this. And to be honest, it was very difficult to keep a straight face when we were filming that scene. It required two-three takes for us to get it right because I used to burst out laughing. It was a great meta joke!” Ayushmann adds.
Excited about the possibility that MHCU brings for him to share screen space with Aparshakti for the first time in a film, he exclaims, “I’m really looking forward to crossing paths with my brother. It would be crazy.” This also puts focus on how each film in MHCU offers audience the opportunity to see a bunch of actors in one single film at a time when multi-starrers have become far and few. And while Hollywood has gained attention for its movie universes, Ayushmann feels its not fair to draw comparisons.
“We shouldn’t seek validation from the West. Our stories are very Indianised. We’ve been talking about folklores of the yore. Thamma’s a chapter that has been taken from Vikram-Betal and it serves as the genesis story. So, we can’t really compare. But I’m glad that this universe is letting all of our characters cross each other’s paths. The merging of the characters is seamless and they aren’t just guest appearances. It’s not forced. It only helps take the universe forward and that’s the beauty of MHCU,” he says.
And how does he look at the super success of Thamma? “It just means that the validation from the public has come and that’s the biggest kind of vindication for an artist. It’s very gratifying more than anything else, as you want to reach out to as many people as possible. So, it feels wonderful. Now, people have some expectations from me and its happy expectations. I think that it’s a good kind of pressure that’s there on me,” remarks Ayushmann, who’s set to begin Sooraj Barjatya’s next in November.
