Actor Ayushmann Khurrana made his smashing debut in 2012 with the romantic comedy Vicky Donor, and his acting career took off right after. Prior to that, he had won the second season of the show MTV Roadies in 2004 and ventured into anchoring. In an episode of Unfiltered with Samdish, the film's director Shoojit Sircar recalled the casting process and the budget of the film, sharing how both Ayushmann and Annu Kapoor weren't his first choices for their roles. When asked about casting a Roadie, actor Ayushmann Khurrana in the film, Shoojit revealed, "I went to an A-lister actor before Ayushmann with the film. I wouldn't take names, it's professionally not good to do so. He laughed and said no, reasoning that it's mainstream. In fact, I went to one more and got the same reaction. If something like this happens a lot, I don't feel good. So, we moved on." He continued, "A friend from Delhi, who has been the casting director for all my films, asked if I wanted to meet a new guy. I had never seen him, I didn't even know what Roadies was. I liked Ayushmann in the first meeting and he took the script home to think about it. We wanted somebody who could improvise and have a Delhi slang, we got it." The filmmaker also mentioned that he went to late actor Om Puri for the doctor's role played by Annu Kapoor in Vicky Donor. He shared, "I was meeting him for the first time, he was a star by then. At that time, he was going through some issues, so I don't think he could give much time to the script, which I could sense during the first meeting. He was a little disoriented. I met him again and he told me that 'Script toh theek hai, lekin Bollywood mai tum yeh karoge'! Meri liye shooting ke time problem hojaati, he looked uncomfortable with the subject." ALSO READ | Ayushmann Khurrana on dealing with consistent failures after success of Vicky Donor: ‘You become a true man…’ Shoojit further added, "Then, I thought of Annu Kapoor. He was so enthusiastic and excited about his look and the script. It was like a second innings for him. He was unbelievable in the film, he actually looked like Dr. Baldev Chaddha." Shoojit also opened up about the minimal budget he had for Vicky Donor, and said with a smile, "I made the film between 4-5 crores. I invested my fees into the film only. We didn't even create a wedding setup especially for the shoot, I went to Chattarpur in one of the venues and asked the hosts for a few hours after the wedding was done. Ek raat mai shoot karliya tha vo poora scene. Dost logon ko bola tha Bengali friends leke aana shaadi mai guest banne ke liye." Also starring Yami Gautam and Dolly Ahluwalia in pivotal roles, Vicky Donor was a commercial success. It even won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Produced by actor John Abraham and Ronnie Lahiri, the movie was about sperm donation and infertility.
