I firmly believe that writers are the biggest stars, the ones who create content. They make us actors into stars, because we portray a character written by them. AYUSHMANN KHURRANA, ACTOR

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana is a big fan of poetry. The actor has, of late, been posting his own verses on Twitter, and people are loving it. So when we spoke to Ayushmann on the occasion of World Poetry Day (March 21), the actor told us that he plans to publish a book of his own poems soon. "The biggest influence has been my mother (Poonam Khurrana), who has a master's degree in Hindi. It was because of her that there'd be literature books in vernacular languages at our home while I was growing up. My father (P. Khurrana) was interested in poetry and ghazals, so that's where my interest stemmed from," says the actor.

Ayushmann's interest in poetry has deepened, so much so that he plans to release a book of his poems soon. Why not right now? Ayushmann says, "That's a part of my bucket list. But I don't have enough material right now, therefore I'll continue [writing verses] till I have close to around 100 pages." His latest poem was 'Tumhari almari ki khushboo".

Ayushmann's interest in poetry was revealed when he appeared as a guest on the show Kaun Banega Crorepati last year, and recited his selfcomposed poem, 'Mukhote'. Show host Amitabh Bachchan was visibly impressed - Bachchan's father, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, was a renowned poet. Ayushmann is a big fan of Harivansh Rai Bachchan. "Harivansh Rai, Nirala... all of them were called 'rashtra kavi' because they'd write motivational stuff and take pride in being an Indian. I love reading Rumi and Shiv Kumar Batalvi. While growing up, I read Paash. His poem, 'Sapne khatarnak' would be used in our street plays," says Ayushmann, speaking about his influences.

The actor also writes stories, and when asked if writers get their due in Bollywood, he says, "Writers are finally getting their due, but we have a long way to go. I firmly believe that writers are the biggest stars - the ones who create content. They turn us actors into stars, because we portray a character written by them. They're still underpaid, though. All my hit films - Vicky Donor (2012), Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015), Bareilly Ki Barfi, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (both 2017) turned out the way they were because brilliant people like Juhi Chaturvedi, Nitesh Tiwari, Sharat Katariya, and Hitesh Kewalya came up with new ideas and dialogues. The industry thrives due to writers."