Ayushmann Khurrana To Play Prem In Sooraj Barjatya's Upcoming Family Drama

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Ayushmann Khurrana doesn’t have Salman Khan’s biceps. He doesn’t have the distinct baritone, or Bhai’s pan-India superstardom. But what he does have? A decade-long career of disrupting Bollywood’s leading man narrative—and now, the chance to reinvent one of its most sacred names: Prem.

Yes, that Prem.

The wide-eyed, clean-cut idealist crafted by filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya. For decades, the name Prem was shorthand for virtue and vulnerability, played to iconic effect by Salman Khan in syrupy blockbusters like Hum Aapke Hain Koun…! and Maine Pyar Kiya. But in 2025, Barjatya’s Prem is moving to Mumbai and Ayushmann Khurrana is stepping into the role.

IMDb

On paper, it’s a curious casting choice. Khurrana, now 40, has built a career on social subversion playing sperm donors, guy with erectile dysfunction, closeted gay lover, and in his upcoming film for Maddock, a vampire. He’s Bollywood’s likely risk-taker and an actor who brings levity and heart to topics most mainstream stars wouldn’t touch with a barge pole.

But what’s he doing in Barjatya’s squeaky-clean universe?

In many ways, the answer lies in evolution. If the 1990s Prem represented a traditional masculine ideal—dutiful son, romantic gentleman, family-first—then Khurrana’s new-age Prem may be that same character reimagined for modern India.

Barjatya has hinted that the new film is grounded in Mumbai's urban sprawl, far removed from the grand mansions and sugarcoated sentimentality of his earlier films. This version of Prem is more grounded, more conflicted, and possibly more complex.

And who better to portray that than Ayushmann? He’s always played the man between convention and chaos, simultaneously embodying middle-class values and quietly rebelling against them. His characters tend to speak to a very specific, very modern Indian man: one who’s figuring it out, rather than having it all figured out.

Salam Khan as Prem in Sooraj Barjatya's family drama film 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun'.IMDb

Khurrana’s last film, Dream Girl 2, leaned into full-blown comedy, but his upcoming slate,including Thama, set for a Diwali release, suggests a return to more grounded storytelling. If anyone can bring a fresh, emotionally intelligent take to Prem, it’s him.

So no, he may not be Bhai. But in a world where masculinity is being redefined on and off screen, Khurrana’s version of Prem might just be the hero we didn’t know we needed.