The Jubilee effect! Aparshakti Khurana says, ‘Scripts coming my way show increase in respect’

Aparshakti Khurana

When Aparshakti Khurana had auditioned for Vikramaditya Motwane's Jubilee (2022), little did he know that it had earned him another project in Berlin. After all, Atul Sabharwal, who has directed ZEE5's upcoming bureaucratic thriller, also served as the writer of Jubilee and was privy to the actor's audition. "Atul sir had seen my Jubilee audition. So, the first time we met for Jubilee readings, we began talks for Berlin," recalls Khurana.

For the actor, Berlin - also starring Rahul Bose, Ishwak Singh and Anupriya Goenka - was an easy yes as the thriller's style and world building was novel. "The moment Atul sir narrated Berlin, I asked him for the script and finished reading it the same day. It was a world I had not heard of or seen before."

Khurana's career took a turn two years ago when he fronted Jubilee, playing an aspiring actor in the late '40s. While the show helped him shed the funnyman image, he says his own approach towards projects hasn't been affected by his new-found acclaim. "If I go by the kind of scripts coming my way, I can tell you there has been an increase in respect. There are better people and production houses, with whom I am collaborating. Having said that, I never operated from [the idea] that I have to prove a point. I treated those comic parts with as much respect as I treat Berlin or Jubilee."