'Stars interfere with filmmaking process': David Dhawan says he wanted to 'get out of the rut of working with stars'

David Dhawan has worked with Bollywood's top stars like Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Govinda, Sanjay Dutt, and Rajesh Khanna.

In the 90s, David Dhawan was one of the most sought-after and successful filmmakers in Hindi cinema. He gave some of the biggest comedy hits in the industry in that decade, carrying it forward to the 2000s as well. But after that came a period of lull, during which many of his films did not perform well at the box office. In a recent conversation, the veteran filmmaker said that the period forced him to opt out of working with stars and bank on newcomers.

Salman Khan and David Dhawan pose at an event marking the latter's cinematic journey, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, late Saturday, May 23, 2026. (PTI Photo) (PTI)

David Dhawan on stars

After the success of Partner in 2007, David directed Do Knot Disturb and Rascals, both of which were commercially unsuccessful. The director said he faced rejection from actors at this stage in his career. On Saturday, the 74-year-old interacted with his son, actor Varun Dhawan, on the sidelines of the David Dhawan Film Festival. He said he could feel that the stars were "hesitant" to work with him, primarily because his movies were not doing well commercially.

David said that after this, he decided to work with newcomers, and thus Chashme Baddoor was born. The 2013 comedy, a remake of Sai Paranjpye's 1981 cult-classic film of the same name, starred newcomers Taapsee Pannu, Divyendu, Siddharth, and Pakistani actor Ali Zafar. “I made Chashme Baddoor out of anger. Chintu ji (Rishi Kapoor) barely had a role in it, and I insisted he do it for me. We had three new boys and a girl in it,” David recalled.

Prior to this, David’s films had always featured big names, from Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan to Govinda and Akshay Kumar. But by Chashme Baddoor, the filmmaker said he wanted to avoid directing stars. “I wanted to get out of the rut of working with stars. If a director can write a good script, scenes, dialogues, and have a good song, why not make it with newcomers? Stars do interfere in the process of filmmaking, and on top of that, working with two actors isn't easy at all,” he said.

Chashme Baddoor was panned by critics and was not a box-office success either. The filmmaker made a winning comeback at the box office with his next two comedies - Main Tera Hero and Judwaa. Both starred Varun Dhawan.

David Dhawan's upcoming film

The David Dhawan Film Festival, organised by PVR INOX, serves as a prelude to his new directorial film, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai. The movie stars Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur, and Pooja Hegde, and is set to release in theatres on June 5.