Mumbai, October 25, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Actor Ayushmann Khurrana has recalled an early attempt to get an acting opportunity in Bollywood, revealing that when he contacted filmmaker Karan Johar seeking a break, he was told that the production house did not audition newcomers or outsiders.
The Badhaai Ho actor shared the anecdote during an appearance on an earlier season of Koffee With Karan, hosted by Johar.
Khurrana said he first met Johar at an awards function in 2007, when he was working as a radio jockey. Johar was among the first celebrities he had the opportunity to interview, and the aspiring actor asked the filmmaker for his phone number.
Recalling what happened next, Khurrana said, “I was like, ‘Can I have your number? I want to be an actor.’ You gave me a landline number. The next morning, when I called the number and asked to speak to Karan Johar, the person on the other line said, ‘We don’t audition outsiders and newcomers’ or something like that.”
Johar responded light-heartedly to the recollection, saying he had given Khurrana the correct number and suggesting that he might have seen potential in him at the time.
Khurrana, however, pointed out humorously that the attempt had not helped him reach the filmmaker.
When Johar asked why he had never shared the incident earlier, Khurrana said he had to be more careful about what he said after moving beyond his radio career.
“When I was an RJ, I could be myself completely and freely say whatever was on my mind,” he explained.
Khurrana subsequently established himself as an actor known for films such as Vicky Donor, Badhaai Ho and other socially themed entertainers.
On the work front, he was recently seen alongside Sara Ali Khan in Udta Teer, directed by Aakash Kaushik, which released in theatres on October 23.
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