Voracious Varun

Varun Dhawan’s affable nature, childlike enthusiasm and an insatiable greed for good roles have won him accolades, writes RAJIV VIJAYAKAR

Technically, Varun Dhawan is said to have never given a flop. This is because Dilwale (which anyway had him as the younger hero), made over a hundred crore and lost only in terms of return on investment, and two, his film October is claimed by its makers to have broken even. At the other end, let us not forget the two huge hits among his many successful films — Badrinath Ki Dulhania and Judwaa 2.

This consistent affair with success sits lightly on the actor, whose affable second nature has made him extremely popular with his associates and the media, besides his fans and the audience. And he has to think a bit before he discovers just one similarity between Zafar, the intense character he essays in his next film, Kalank, and his own persona.
“Maybe, like Zafar, I do go a lot against popular notions,” he muses aloud. “Like the way I was advised not to do October. Or in the way I took up Badlapur.
But Zafar is a flamboyant guy. His anger can go from zero to 100 in the snap of a finger. He carries a lot of baggage and battles internal demons. But, as an actor,
I enjoyed the role. Come on, it’s a very Hindi masala film, about family and relationships. And I get to sing a great song like First class and actually fight a
bull!”

He smiles and recalls that his director Abhishek Verman even gave strict instructions that whenever Zafar smiles in the film, his teeth should not be seen! “I told him that would look like an arrogant smirk, and he replied, ‘Zafar is arrogant!’ My director knew his character in and out! I had to do a lot of talking with my eyes. I went very deep into the character with Abhishek, walking around the giant Hira mandi set we had put up at Film City, imagining situations and visiting Zafar’s imagined childhood. Actually, Abhishek himself has a lot of suppressed angst within him, he is the silent type.”

How old is Varun’s acquaintance with his director, whose father, celebrated director R Verman, was the production designer of almost 20 films directed by his dad
David Dhawan? “Strangely, my father knew Abhishek as a kid and was very emotional when he came to know that we were working together. I met him for the
first time only on the sets of My Name Is Khan when we both were ADs to Karan (Johar) sir.”

He goes on, “Abhishek is against the palette of the older kind of commercial cinema, and is obsessive about films, of new-age Hindi cinema, though his films
follow the classic filmi route. Till the end, he kept mulling over the details and nuances in post-production, VFX, DI and sound. Rather than just checking what
his team was doing, he was into everything personally. The set he created was a complete world. I play a lohar (ironsmith) and my bhatti (furnace) had the
necessary things. Then there was a tea-stall, carpets from Afghanistan in a shop, a small cinema house and even a water body that goes to Bahaar Begum’s house.”

Greedy for more

How would Varun describe himself as an actor? “I am a greedy actor!” he replies instantly. “I love to do films like Badlapur, and intense roles like Kalank. I
would love to do a digital series as they too have a massive reach now. I would also love to do a film that does superbly at the box-office, like my
Badrinath Ki Dulhania. I would like to do every kind of film and satisfy every kind of audience! I have now started a YouTube channel that has parallel content.”
He also preens, “As an actor, I am doing the stuff that others are not doing, like Badlapur, Judwaa 2 and Badrinath… again. The latter too are out-and-out
masala films that no one makes today, except maybe one or two movies a year.

However, I do love Ranbir Kapoor for taking on Sanju and Ranveer Singh for playing Khilji in Padmavat. But I can only admire them. I cannot essay Sanjay
Dutt and I am only five-feet-nine, so I cannot possibly do either roles!” We ask him about Sanjay Dutt, who had a long innings with his father. Does
he find him any different now in Kalank? “Sanjay-sir is the least insecure actor we have!” he says. “He’s so chilled-out. He’s not changed one bit since I would see
him in so many of dad’s movies.” He smiles when we mention that Madhuri Dixit-Nene recently said that when was a kid she would tell him to dance and award him marks
during the shooting of her film, Yaraana , with David Dhawan.

A hit pairing

One question on a lighter note that has been nagging us: Fellow debutant Alia Bhatt has done nine films with their parent banner Dharma Productions, with
diverse co-stars, but all his four films with them so far have had only Alia Bhatt! Why is that?

“It’s in my contract!” he jokes and laughs. “Actually, the director decides the heroine. Abhishek, Shashank Khaitan of the …Dulhania franchise and Karan
(Johar)-sir himself have chosen Alia. But she’s killed it here, especially in the Ghar more pardesiya song. She’s too good!”

The two youngsters also share a fabulous vibe. “I can read her thoughts. Or know when she is about to fall, so I tell her where to fall so that I can help!” he
grins. “We have known each other for too long and we just take off from the last time even when we meet after long!”

Moving to his other films, does he not regret that Katrina Kaif had to step out of Street Dancer? “She tried her best to accommodate us, but she wanted her
shoots to be pushed forward a bit and that was not possible,” he replies. “But with Shraddha Kapoor coming in ­— despite her super-busy schedule she is fitting us in
wonderfully, and the ABCD 2 team also of Remo-sir and Prabhudheva-sir and Sachin-Jigar’s music, it was like coming back to family. There is some really,
really, crazy stuff we have done, and the music is so good.”

How does he look at the sequel to his film Student Of The Year 2? “It feels great to know that your film is having a sequel. It proves its popularity,” he says.
And what about his third film with his father after Main Tera Hero and Judwaa 2 — the remake of Coolie No 1? What is the truth among all the rumours
floating around? “We have kept the core idea but it is an adaptation. The title is the same to let the audience know. We must understand that the film was made almost
25 years ago and there are two generations that have not watched it but have only heard about it. I must have watched it at least a 1,000 times and I hope we can
re-create it well. There are so many expectations.” So doesn’t that generate pressure on him? “It does, and it should! Pressure must be there to deliver something good. Without risk, nothing good can be created.” Does he give suggestions to dad? “I give suggestions to all!” he smiles. “It is up to them to take it or not.”

What is his brother Rohit doing? “Apart from helping out my dad on Coolie No 1, he’s also working on a script, which I don’t think is for me. But I recently
did two ad films with him.”