There’s something refreshingly non-filmi about Ayushmann Khurrana. Even though he was voted the Most Promising New Face of 2012, he looks anything but a star. In a casual tee and purple jeans, he could be the affable boy next door.

“And there lies his charm,” says mentor-director Shoojit Sircar, whose film Vicky Donor (2012) was the perfect showcase for Khurrana as an actor, composer and singer. Before long, Sircar’s lead actor had endeared himself not only to the team, playing cricket with them every day after pack-up, but also to the middle-class residents of Lajpat Nagar, where the film was shot.

“Not for a day did I have to eat the unit food. Every day somebody or the other would invite me home for lunch or dinner,” grins Khurrana, adding that even while shooting his second film, Nautanki Saala, he’d sipped tea and had vada pav with co-star Kunaal Roy Kapur at a roadside stall. “We’re simple guys with a theatre background. And since theatre doesn’t pay you much you have no choice but to be humble,” he says.

The modesty translates into an effortless performance on screen. “His years on TV have made him camera friendly. At the same time Ayushmann is a spontaneous actor. Now it’s for him to retain the innocence that made him stand out in a crowd of new faces by experimenting with different kinds of cinema and roles,” says Sircar.

The filmmaker’s next movie with him, Hamara Bajaj, has him in the role of a tourist guide who comes to Mumbai from Agra to be an actor. The role of a small-town struggler seems to be a perfect fit for the Chandigarh-born Khurrana. But after the success of Vicky Donor, will people accept him as the Bajaj from nowhere?

“Wasn’t Ranbir (Kapoor) accepted as the deaf-mute boy from Darjeeling in Barfi!,” asks Khurrana. “Times have changed. You don’t have to carry the larger-than-life image of a star with you, on or off screen. I don’t feel like a star. Today, things are looking good, tomorrow they may not be as good. No big deal, I have been on the other side too. The idea is to enjoy the journey as long as it lasts,” says a philosophical Khurrana.

And right now the journey seems to be all the way up. In fact, Yash Raj Films too has signed him on for an as yet untitled movie with Sonam Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor. Says Ashish Patil, business and creative head, vice-president, youth films, brand partnerships, talent management at Yash Raj Films, “Ayushmann adds a unique mix of talent and freshness to Yash Raj’s Talent Management Wing and kickstarts his journey with us in a role that will cement his position as one of the finest actors in the industry today.”

However, it was the success of Vicky Donor, where he plays a character who donates his sperm, that begun to open all the doors for Khurrana. Although, thanks to the film, he has had some mortifying moments too. “I was at a mall with my mom when suddenly this girl screamed, ‘Vicky, I want your sperm!’ I was so embarrassed for my mother and rushed her away before things got worse,” he shudders.

Strangely, one of his tasks on MTV’s Roadies Season 2 — a contest he won — was also to donate his sperm. He did it, but there was no flutter at all. But when he did it again in Vicky Donor, he became a sensation.

There’s no doubt that after Vicky Donor, his popularity has shot up. On Twitter alone the number of his followers has gone up from 50,000 to 2,50,000. And most of them are women — even though the fact that he’s happily married to his childhood sweetheart, Tahira Kashyap, is public knowledge.

Talk of his wife, and Khurrana shows himself to be a proud husband. “She’s a lecturer and a writer. She’s published two books and is writing a third. It could be a book or a script,” he says, evidently still head over heels in love with the girl he grew up with and whom he proposed to in the car park where they’d meet, with flowers, fireworks and a rolled out red carpet.

His romantic excess earned him the sobriquet Nautanki Saala from jealous rivals. Coincidentally, that’s also the title of his next film, in which he plays both Ram and Raavan. Prod him on which character best describes him and he says shyly, “Ram — I’m a decent guy. As a kid, I only got to be part of the vanar sena (monkey army) in the Ram Leela back home. I had to wait till recently to get my turn in the spotlight.”

Despite his apparent disinterest in stardom, it’s obvious Khurrana has a smart brain. As trade analyst Amod Mehra points out, he’s turned down many multi-starrers, not wanting to get lost in a crowd, and favoured solo starrers. “That’s a sign of confidence, but it might be a good idea to safeguard his position by taking on a few multi-starrers. Shah Rukh had a string of flops after Baazigar (1993) and Darr (1993) till Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) bailed him out. Even Akshay Kumar can’t carry a film on his shoulders all the time and this boy doesn’t even have Akshay’s build or physique,” reasons Mehra.

But going by the favourable impression he has created in the movie industry, Ayushmann Khurrana definitely seems to be here for the long haul.