India is homophobic: Ayushmann Khurrana

Ayushmann Khurrana recently addressed the reason why his last three films - 'Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui', 'Anek' and 'Doctor G', performed poorly at the box office. The actor, who is known for progressive films, shared that it's unfortunate that India is 'homophobic'.

'Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui' highlights a social message on the LGBTQ community and is directed by Abhishek Kapoor and starred Vaani Kapoor as a trans woman. The film started with Rs 3.75 crore on its opening day in India and was affected by a rising number of COVID-19 cases later. It wrapped up with a business of Rs 33.64 crore gross, as per reports. His following films, 'Anek' and 'Doctor G' earned as little as Rs 9.7 crore and Rs 31.49 crore gross at the domestic ticket window.

When asked if Ayushmann is affected by his consecutive films underperforming, he called himself 'unshakable.' He explained how his films fared overall and told OTT play: "I started with movies on taboo subjects. I suppose the type of subjects - it has to be a community viewing and it has to have a wider film - the kids have also been watching. My last three films, including an LGBTQ film ('Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui'), really didn't do well commercially because, unfortunately, our country is homophobic. Then there was 'Anek', a docudrama that was very niche in terms of the tone of the film. 'Doctor G' was an A-rated film and given the kind of certification it got, the film did decently well in theatres. For a while, that was my learning for making a film."

However, nothing can stop Ayushmann from taking risks even now. He also added, "If I stop taking risks, I will be conventional. I have always been unconventional and I make those choices. I will be taking them in the future as well, regardless of success or failure."