Life is pretty much the same. I still do not filter what I say and just say things. I still have the same set of friends; my lifestyle has not changed either. What has changed is the privacy.
Varun Dhawan may have given five hits in a row, but the young boy charms you with his down-to-earth attitude and his undying desire to entertain people.
He is just five-films old, but the Dhawan boy is already atop of the popularity chart amongst his contemporaries. With films as diverse as Main Tera Hero to Badlapur, Varun has not only proven his versatility as an actor but has also built a fan base across both the set of audiences – the ones who prefer serious realistic cinema, and the ones who love out-and-out masala flicks. His latest film ABCD 2 is in the 100 crore club, marking his fifth hit in a row since his debut film Student Of The Year, he has replaced Salman Khan in Shuddhi, has a film with Shah Rukh Khan – life couldn’t have got any better for this star prodigy. However, Varun Dhawan is least affected by all the fanfare around him, and instead of floating in the bubble of success, has his feet firmly planted on the ground.
ABCD 2 is definitely not your regular Bollywood dance film, weren’t you apprehensive about being a part of this dancing extravaganza, which stars dancing legends like Prabhu Deva?
To be honest, I came into the film with a bit of over-confidence. But when I saw all these guys who were a part of the film, I was completely taken aback. The best thing about them was they all were dancing to express and not to impress, and that is something I learned from them.
Earlier I used to just dance to impress, but after this film, I know that there is so much purity and spirituality to dancing. All these guys I danced with – Punit, Sajaan, Sushant, Raghav, Dharmesh – all of them have a certain expression in their dance. They are just not moving their hands from here to there… that movement is for a reason, they are sensing something in the music and moving accordingly. And for me there was lots of understanding that needed to happen before getting into the film. First thing,
Remo sir told me is that – anybody can dance, but you have to have the passion for dancing, you need to respect dancing and understand what dancers are.
Suddenly all this seems quite difficult, so how did you train yourself to match the moves of these experts?
You know I trained for around six months; I found it difficult initially but got the hang of it within two months of training. I worked with the Fictitious Group, and then I trained with these ‘Dance India Dance’ champions like Punit and Raghav. So I
trained with the best and put in a lot of efforts. But still if you will see, these guys are stealing the show with their dancing. While they are stealing the show, your fans are loving you on the screen. In fact, ever since your first film you have established a strong fan following, which turned phenomenal post Main Tera Hero… must say you are a superstar in making.
No, not at all! I do not think I am there as yet. In fact, I do not get this at all, for me the Khans, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn – all these guys are superstars. Yes, all this adulation feels great but it makes me feel more responsible towards my work. I just feel I need to work harder and continue to entertain my audience.
I am not being humble or down to earth about it. I feel that at the end of the day the audience is waiting to watch entertaining stuff. When they get bored, they go to the theater for something that will entertain them and my job is to
entertain the audience. I love pleasing the audience, I love to make them laugh and cry. The reason I am here is because I love movies because I love to entertain the audience. Other things do not really matter.
So you don’t want to achieve the stardom?
Why not? But I need to earn it. At the same time, it scares me. I think once you reach there, it just gets crazy. And I have heard a lot of people say that it is really lonely up there on the top. So I am happy with where I am.
Being an industry kid, Bollywood has always been a known playground for you. However, how would you define your journey as an actor here?
Trust me it is not easy. Yes, because I am an industry kid my entry in films had been smooth, but working on a film is not as simple as it appears to be. It is a lot of hard work put together. But I am not complaining, the journey so far has been great, I have met some really good directors and got to work with lovely actors.
Though you are born in the film industry, suddenly many things change for you the minute you face the camera, how has life changed for you in these past three years?
Life is pretty much the same. I still do not filter what I say and just say things. I still have the same set of friends; my lifestyle has not changed either. What has changed is the privacy. There is very less privacy in my life now. People are constantly clicking pictures of me whenever I am out. I am clicked with so many girls, sometimes even when I am just walking past someone. The media is constantly writing about you, linking you with someone one day, and with another the next day. Sometimes I lose my cool, sometimes I get irritated… but at the end of the day I feel I am blessed to be where I am.
Who do you think is your competition today?
Today Hindi film industry is competing with cricket, competing with politics, competing with the weather; we are competing with enough natural things already, then why compete with human beings? There is enough space for everyone here, so why bother competing? I believe in doing my own thing and focusing on my work.
Tell us something about Shuddhi?
Honestly, I don’t know anything about Shuddhi, it will not start till next year and before that I have to complete two other projects.
Dilwale with Shah Rukh is one of them, can you tell us about it?
Dilwale is my type of film. I am a Rohit Shetty fan and I always wanted to work with him. I can’t reveal much about the film at this point, but I can tell you one thing, I am the most excited person on the sets of the film.
Career-wise, have you set any goals for yourself?
Not really. However, yes I want to continue doing different kind of films and continue to entertain my audience. cocaine, about the mothers and children of gangsters, so much. It was fantastic.”
