Varun Dhawan

Varun Dhawan was on Sky Nine when he came to know that SOTY (Student of the Year) was being directed by Karan Johar   When Varun Dhawan decided to enter films, his father, the famous film director David Dhawan, declined to launch him. He asked Varun to struggle like any ordinary newcomer. Varun in an interview said, “While I was struggling as an actor, Karan Sir (Karan Johar) asked me to first learn the art of filmmaking hence he appointed me as his assistant director in his film My Name is Khan.”   He informed, “When Karan Sir announced his film Student Of The Year (SOTY), I was excited. I gave some of my CDs of short films that I and my friends used to shoot.   After that, I was waiting for Karna sir’s response but there was no response. One month passed and I lost hope.”   He added, “But one day Karan Sir came to our house and gave the big news that he had selected me for the film. What was more thrilling was that when Karan Sir said that he would be directing the film! Otherwise, I was expecting since he was making an experimental film with newcomers, perhaps, he would be giving a break to the new director!”     The year 2014 -15 proved a Goldmine for Varun Dhawan   With the success of SOTY, both film buffs and film critics wrote rave reviews about Varun Dhawan’s excellent performance.   Eminent film magazine Stardust awarded Varun Dhawan with Breakthrough Performance of the Year award. All the major film awards viz. Filmfare, Screen etc nominated him as Best Debutant Actor.   With the windfall of awards, Varun Dhawan was flooded with offers but Varun showed patience and carefully selected his movies. He skipped one full year and rejected many films. His calculation and endurance paid off as both the films viz, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014) and Main Tera Hero (2014) were box-office hits. Besides commercial success Varun Dhawan established his mastery in comedy and won the prestigious IIFA Best Performance in a Comic Role Award  - Main Tera Hero!   In addition, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania won the Stardust Award for Best Romance and Comedy!   With 2014 proving successful, the year 2015 turned a gold mine as this year he hit a hat-trick of hits at the box office with Badlapur, ABCD 2 and Dilwale all doing excellent business.   Varun Dhawan stepping into the shoes of Salman Khan    In a short span of five years Varun Dhawan has made a remarkable name in Bollywood. His biggest achievement is that he has notched the coveted dual role played by Salman Khan in the 1997 biggest hit Judwaa.   Filmmaker Sajid Nadiyadwala and David Dhawan, who had created the original, have decided to re-create the same magic in its sequel.   Varun, who was quite young when the original film was made, recalled, “When the film was being made I had visited the sets and called Salman Khan, ‘uncle’ to which he retorted, ‘Call me bhai’!”   Recently at a special screening of the original Judwaa, Salman Khan had another advice for Varun Dhawan, “Don’t be over-smart, listen to the director!”