Did you know Ayushmann Khurrana wasn't the first choice for Vicky Donor, but these 'big stars'?

Ayushmann Khurrana's performance in his 2012 debut film Vicky Donor was well-received by the audience and critics. However, not many know that the film was offered to almost all the "big Bollywood" stars. Juhi Chaturvedi, the writer of Vicky Donor, during an interview, spoke about how many actors had rejected it.

All the big actors rejected Vicky Donor: Juhi Chaturvedi

Juhi Chaturvedi, was part of O Womaniya discussion for Film Companion to discuss gender inequality in the industry. During the conversation, the discussion went to "sensible make characters" in the films, to this, Juhi spoke about Vicky Donor and Piku. The writer said that she doesn't know how many actors today would say yes to playing a role like Rana (Irrfan Khan) and added, "Because it's a small role. It does not bring them that kind of glory. But he (Irrfan) did it."

She then spoke about Ayushmann starrer and revealed that it was rejected by "all big actors". She said, "Even for Vicky Donor, honestly, everybody, all big actors, had said absolute no to it. Eventually, Ayushmann and Yami Gautam were cast in the film." To note, Viky Donor was helmed by Shoojit Sircar, which was based on sperm donation.  

Vicky Donor was commercially successful at the box office

Also starring Annu Kapoor and Dolly Ahluwalia, the film reportedly performed strongly at the box office. It became a commercial success grossing ₹66.32 crore worldwide, against a budget of ₹15 crore. The film opened at ₹18.8 million in India despite getting tough competition from Housefull 2 in its first week of theatrical release. On seeing the success and response of the audience, the film was remade in Telugu as Naruda Donoruda (2016) and in Tamil as Dharala Prabhu (2020).