A Candid Chat With Varun Dhawan & David Dhawan
It is a lesser known fact that David Dhawan started his journey as a filmmaker with editing and the latter is a craft he enjoys more than any other. That his actual name is Rajinder & David was a name fondly given to him by a Jew family in Kolkata, is another trivia. The In-Conversation session titled, “Dha-One”, featuring David Dhawan & his superstar son Varun Dhawan was full of such lesser-known facts surrounding the Dhawan family, a candid recollection of David & Varun’s journey in films and the changes in the film industry from the duo’s point of view. The massive DMK auditorium at Kala Academy failed to contain the huge swarm of Varun Dhawan’s fans who did not stop cheering, whistling & expressing their love for the young icon.
While recollecting his foray into the world of acting, Varun Dhawan was quite vocal about his love for films of darker shades. The actor was all praise for films like Dhobi Ghat, Black Friday & Badlapur. Varun said, “I would have given my right arm to be launched by Anurag Kashyap”, to which David quipped, “Thank God, not!” The senior Dhawan further added, “When I learnt that he had auditioned for Dhobi Ghat, I suggested him to give up the idea and instead do ‘proper’ Bollywood cinema. Later, when Karan (Johar) told me that he is casting Varun in a lead role in his film, I thought ‘what can be better than this?’ I asked Varun to step on his shoulder and take the leap.”
Using the example of the blockbuster film Amar Akbar Anthony, David said, “The scene where the brothers collectively donate blood to their mother still attracts applause. The idea is impractical, but cinema is all about what you make the audience believe. You’re selling dreams, at the end of the day.”
While speaking about what drew him to acting, Varun said, “I always wanted to be the funny guy in the group. I dreamt of owning a channel and do talk shows. I used to be obsessed with improvised comedy.”The session moderated by Rumi Jaffery then touched upon varied facets of the Dhawan family, including Varun’s brother Rohit Dhawan who is also a filmmaker, the bonding between the brothers, their mother & the times of growing up.
When asked if he was nervous about his debut film, Student Of The Year (SOTY), Varun surprisingly dismissed the notion. He said, “We all (Varun, Alia & Siddharth) were debutante actors. So Student Of The Year (SOTY) was all Karan’s headache. I knew that if the film did not do well, the blame would be all on Karan. I was stressed in the true sense for the 1st time ever before the release of Main Tera Hero. That was my first solo hero film. I was desperate to convince the audience that I’m their hero who can laugh, cry, dance & romance, be funny & do everything that a hero does.”
The actor said he is very excited about his upcoming film, Kalank, and that he is eager to see how the audience receives him & the film.
