David Dhawan says Varun Dhawan's first flop ‘depressed’ him: ‘Karan Johar must’ve sold his last shirt to make it'

David Dhawan reflects on Kalank's failure, calling it a costly flop for Karan Johar.

Karan Johar's 2019 film Kalank, which starred Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and several others in lead roles, was such a major box office disaster that many called it an inerasable black mark on Dharma Productions. Recently, at the trailer launch of Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, filmmaker David Dhawan discussed his son’s major box office flop and how it ‘depressed’ him.

David Dhawan spoke about Varun Dhawan's first flop. (PTI Photo) (PTI)

Varun, David on how Kalank’s failure disturbed them

At the trailer launch, Varun called Kalank the first flop of his career. He said, “When I had my first flop, which happened after a couple of hits, it shook me very badly. I wondered, yeh kaise ho gaya, kyun ho gaya? This is because I had a row of hits. My father always told me that it is the law of averages.”

David Dhawan highlighted how the expensive film must have emptied producer Karan Johar’s pockets. He said, “There's one film of his that didn't work and it depressed me. It was a very big film. Karan Johar must have sold his last shirt to make that movie! That film was Kalank.” Kalank was reportedly made on an estimated production and marketing budget of ₹150 crore.

David Dhawan teased Sanjay Dutt

Not just Varun and Karan, David shared that even Sanjay Dutt, who played a pivotal role in the film, was upset with its performance. He took the opportunity to tease him and said, “I asked Sanjay Dutt, ‘Tu kyun kiya yeh picture? Madhuri Dixit thi isliye?’ Sanju was very upset during that film.” For the uninitiated, Sanjay and Madhuri were rumoured to be in a relationship in the early 1990s. However, their relationship ended after Sanjay was arrested in 1993 in connection with the Mumbai blasts case.

About Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai

Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai is directed by David Dhawan. The film is produced by Ramesh Taurani and stars Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur and Pooja Hegde in lead roles. Manish Paul, Chunky Pandey, Jimmy Shergill and Mouni Roy play supporting roles. Recently, Karan Johar shared a post declaring that this film would be David Dhawan’s last directorial outing.

The film is also caught in a legal conflict with producer Vashu Bhagnani, who has accused the makers of the film of using the iconic song Chunari Chunari from his film Biwi No. 1 without permission. At the trailer launch, while Ramesh Taurani claimed that “all is sorted” regarding the issue, Vashu shared a video and maintained that the dispute has not been resolved.