After his song 'Paani Da' from his debut movie 'Vicky Donor' became a superhit, VJ-turned-actor Ayushmann Khurrana is set to sing again in his next movie 'Nautanki Saala'

The Rohan Sippy-directed movie will have at least one song by the 27-year-old, who wants to make a mark in the industry as an actor who sings.

"I'll sing in every film I am part of, at least a couple of songs. I am singing in Rohan Sippy's film, the one we are shooting for right now. I'll sing at least one song in it. I'm really looking forward to it. Its a quirky film, so I think it will be an unusual song on the lines of 'Nautanki Sala'," said Ayushmann.

His musical talents have got a new boost what with 'Paani Da' being nominated in the Best Music Debut category at the upcoming Global Indian Music Awards (GIMA) and Ayushmann is determined to take his talent forward.

"Not only musical legends, but even rookies look forward to these awards. The nomination is an encouragement. If not an album, I'll make other singles. In fact we recently made the remix of Paani Da Rang and it's got over 4 lakh hits on Youtube," he said.


Ayushmann said the nomination is like a double whammy and he doesn't mind if he loses out the award to other co-nominees Harshit Saxena ('Haal-e-Dil' from 'Murder 2'), Kamal Khan (Ishq Sufiyana from 'The Dirty Picture') and Sunil Bhatia (Chu Chu from 'Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster').

"This is like a double whammy for me, the film is a hit, the song is a hit and I am nominated as the best debut singer. Others nominees like Kamal Khan and Harshit Saxena are professional singers. Even if I don't win I'll be happy and I will cheer for them."

Ayushmann said he never foresaw the tremendous appreciation his musical talents are getting as he never took it seriously. "I always had this musical bent of mind but I never took it seriously. We composed 'Paani Da' back when I was in college eight years ago. But we never had a chance to record it. We used to compose our own songs for our theatre productions in college.

"When I was on board 'Vicky Donor', one day I was humming it in (director) Shoojit Sircar's office thinking about the music for the film. Normally Punjabi songs are pretty upbeat and loud, but this is like a love ballad. A simple song with unusual lyrics and a hummable tune. I wasn't expecting it to be such a hit. It's overwhelming," Ayushmann said.

But he wants to be known as an actor first and then a singer. "I believe I am an actor who sings and not a singer who acts. I will not allow my singing talent to overpower my acting as I always wanted to be an actor." He is currently busy shooting for 'Nautanki Saala', which also stars Kunal Roy Kapoor of 'Delhi Belly' fame.


Without divulging much details about the film-in-making, Ayushmann said, "It's a buddy comedy kind of a film, shaping up very well. We are shooting for almost 12 hours a day so the film is keeping me super busy."

Besides that, after the the success of 'Vicky Donor', Ayushmann is being flooded with offers and is busy reading new scripts.

"I am reading new scripts everyday, meeting directors. In fact, I have become slightly numb and lost objectivity since I am reading so many scripts. It takes a lot to excite me now." There are no particular kind of roles he is looking for though.

"There's no agenda, whatever excites me I would sign it. I am an actor and I would like to do all kind of roles. I played a Delhi guy in 'Vicky Donor' and I am playing a Mumbaikar in Rohan Sippy's film. I think I should aspire for different kind of roles," he said.