Ayushmann Khurrana revealed his warm bond with Varun Dhawan, despite their on-screen rivalry in ‘Thamma’. Having debuted in the same year, their friendship blossomed through industry events and personal outings. Ayushmann felt like an insider to the horror-comedy franchise even before ‘Thamma’, thanks to his connections with Varun, Rajkummar Rao, and director Amar Kaushik, highlighting a strong sense of camaraderie.
Ayushmann Khurrana and Varun Dhawan shared screen space in Thamma where they battled as vampire and werewolf respectively.While the film features the two stars pitted against each other in an intense face-off on screen, Ayushmann says the real equation behind the scenes was exactly the opposite- warm, effortless, and deeply familiar.Talking about his dynamic with Varun, Ayushmann said the two go way back, having begun their journeys in the industry around the same time.“Varun and I made our debuts in the same year. And we’ve grown together. We have met each other at every award show, every event. Apart from that, we’ve had dinners together, hung out together. So it’s a great camaraderie. I think he is one of the nicest guys in the industry,” he shared.
He recalled that even while shooting high-energy fight scenes in Thamma, the comfort level and humour between them remained intact.“We had great camaraderie on set. Though it was a fight sequence and we were supposed to hate each other, there was actually a lot of bromance off set” he added. Ayushmann also spoke about finally stepping formally into the horror-comedy universe – a long-running franchise led by films like Stree, Bhediya and Munjya. He mentioned that even before signing Thamma, he always felt like part of the group because of his friendships with Varun, Rajkummar Rao,, Amar Kaushik and his brother Aparshakti Khurrana already being part of the universe. He said, “ .I was always part of the universe, even if I was not acting in the universe. Because Apar was there, Varun was there, Rajkumar was there, Amar, Dinesh… So we were all in sync with everything. Even though I was not part of Thamma 4-5 years back, I was always aware of what was happening. I never felt I was not part of the family”.
