OTTplay Exclusive! Aparshakti Khurana: Both my babies Helmet and Arzoie came within a span of six days

Actor Aparshakti Khurana has more than one reason to celebrate. While he became a proud father to Arzoie, his debut film as a lead actor Helmet also released in the same week.

Aparshakti, who made his debut in Bollywood with Aamir Khan's Dangal, is often compared to his brother Ayushmann Khurrana. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, he not only spoke about the comparisons but his overall journey, why sex education is important and being blessed with a baby girl seven years after his wedding. The actor also took us through what his future looks like.

Excerpts from the interview...

Except for Kanpuriye, you have always played a supporting character in a project. Was it stressful to be the lead face of Helmet?

Not at all! It is not stressful to be in the lead. It is exciting, and after working hard for so many years, it feels that your growth is in the right direction.

Helmet is a sensitive subject infused with situational humour. How did you personally approach the movie?

There was nothing different in the way I had to approach Helmet. I have already done a couple of characters from UP. The only thing I had to take care of was chemistry with the rest of the cast. There is an organic give-and-take with everyone including Pranutan, Ashish Verma, Abhishek Banerjee and Jamil Khan sir. Right from the reading, we were able to crack that chemistry. That was the only thing that we needed to better in the preparation.

From Dangal to Helmet, do you see your career the way you imagined it?

I don't really plan my career. I have not done that for the past few years. When I was doing it during my college days, things were not panning out as I wished. So, if you ask me from Dangal to Helmet, has my career panned out the way I had imagined, I have no idea. I am grateful to know that God has so much love from the audience in store for me. I don't want to ruin it by planning it or by keeping certain expectations from it. I'm happy to see life as it comes.

Did Helmet happen when you and Abhishek were working on Stree together?

Helmet happened while I was doing Pati Patni Aur Woh. I remember, during a break in the schedule, I had heard the narration in Mumbai. Abhishek and I have been friends since Stree and we were looking for a script to collaborate again and here it was.

Congratulations on your baby Arzoie. We love how you introduced her to the Insta world. It appears like she's a blessing as she was born during the time of the release of your first film as a lead.

Thank you so much! I still can't believe it! It definitely has been, by far, the best day of my life - the day I had Arzoie. She has bought in such a happy vibe to the entire family. Introducing her to the Insta world with the picture of those fingers, along with my and Akriti's fingers, I must say, it is the happiest love triangle. She has definitely been a blessing. We shot Helmet a few years back, but both my babies - the movie and Arzoie - came within a span of six days. It is weird to know that Akiriti and I have been married for seven years and our Arzoie just happened. In the same way, I have been acting for seven years, but my first baby, my first lead just happened. The timing is really weird, you can never calculate or plan these things. But I am really happy that it has happened this way.

One look at you and people say, isn't that Ayushmann Khurrana's brother? What do you have to say about the constant comparison between the Khurrana brothers?

Well, when people look at me and say, isn't that Ayushmann Khurana's brother, they don't mean to compare. I rather take that as a compliment. I think Ayush Bhaiya is really good looking. So, if they look at me and say, "Oh, this is Ayushmann Khurana's brother," it makes me happy. It makes me feel proud. I don't think people have really compared us. I had a very different journey. Most of the intelligent audience and journalists have never given me that feeling or put that question out. No one has even said anything like that in the comment section, on social media or on YouTube. At least, I have never heard of such things. They have respected us and given us a lot of love in our own space. We come from a small town, Chandigarh, because of which they relate to us a lot.

Talking about Ayushmann, he had recently promoted Helmet too. Although sex is taboo in families, some brothers do discuss the topic. So did you two also talk about it growing up?

It is a very relevant question and something no one has asked me before. Unfortunately, we didn't speak about such things at home. As I said, we belong to a small town Chandigarh. In a way, I regret it. It is important in your growing up days to have sex education in schools, colleges and families. Talking about each and everything makes you a better, more mature, wiser and an informed person. I would request each one of you who is reading this is to inculcate these values through conversations in your day-to-day lives. Sex education is not not only related to the population, but it also helps you become a mature individual, especially boys.

What's next in line for you?

I have completed a really cool suspense thriller. It is a T-series project and is yet to be titled. I play a Kashmiri terrorist in it. Apart from that, I am shooting for an Amazon series called Stardust.