There are tonnes of reasons for falling in love with you, for some, it's your voice, for some it's your acting, for some it's your success story, for some it's your way of balancing life, for some it's your gentleness, for some it's your philosophies and values, and the list goes on. Talking about myself, you are like a dream for me, a goal I'm still chasing, the idea of becoming 'Ayushmann of all trades'. While on the work front, you convinced me that I could be anything in my life, it's your influence on my personal growth as a man for which I'll be grateful to you till my last breath.
You're the reason why I never sat on that throne of patriarchy in my home, I refused those norms and decided to believe in your thoughts. Honestly, it was relatively easy for me to have faith in your concepts because I have read a lot about your life and knows about your transformation from being a patriarchal teen to a gentleman. You bought some of the most well-known yet most neglected issues of our society right on the big screen.
From gender discrimination and misogyny to patriarchy and sexism, you reconstructed the tarnished image of Bollywood (often referred to as the main culprit for spoiling the society). When everyone had surrendered their hopes of seeing concept-based films in Bollywood, you turned the page, picked the pen of your craft, and engraved a story that is going to be narrated by people for generations to come. In the end, I want to make a confession that I have been wrong, have made tons of patriarchal mistakes in my life.
Also, I have hurt people emotionally and have eventually lost them all. But it was you who had made me understand the genuine meaning of being a gentleman. A boy was one step away from becoming just another misogynist man sitting on patriarchy's throne, but you held my hand with your thoughts and took me out of those dark streets of sexism to the world of a true gentleman.
Thank you Ayushmann Khurrana.
Open Letter by Rishabh Naudiyal