David Dhawan slams Bollywood actors for not being loyal to filmmakers: 'This breed belongs to no one'

David Dhawan opened up on his career and collaborations with stars like Govinda, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, and more recently.

Veteran director David Dhawan took a not-so-subtle dig at actors in the film industry, lamenting that they show no loyalty to anyone. The 74-year-old filmmaker touched upon his career and collaborations with stars in a freewheeling chat with his son, actor Varun Dhawan.

David Dhawan spoke about collaborations with various actors over the course of his career. (PTI Photo) (PTI)

David Dhawan on actors' loyalty

The two Dhawans were in conversation on Saturday in Mumbai on the sidelines of the David Dhawan Film Festival. PVR INOX organised a special cinematic retrospective to celebrate the director's legacy of iconic Hindi comedies. Before the launch, David spoke about his career in a chat with Varun in Mumbai.

During the interaction, the filmmaker laid down his blunt assessment of actors, saying they aren't ‘loyal’ to anyone. “I've worked with Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Raj Babbar, Rishi Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Govinda, and Salman Khan. Generally, it's the actors who run a film. If your film as a director doesn't work, the actor will move on to the next. This breed of actors is such that they belong to no one, they have no loyalty towards anyone,” he said, while talking about the relationship between actors and filmmakers.

Among his most successful collaborations has been with Govinda. The director worked with the actor in 17 films, all comedies, and almost all hits. These included a run of successive superhits like Shola Aur Shabnam, Aankhen, Raja Babu, Coolie No. 1, and Hero No. 1. David Dhawan said that Govinda is the only actor in the industry who worked with him, regardless of the success or failure of his movies.

"There's one actor who never looked whether my films worked or not, and that is Govinda. I remember when one of my films didn't do well, I was upset, and he said, 'Write a script, don't be sad.' Then I wrote Shola Aur Shabnam," David said. The two first worked together on the 1989 action-thriller film Taaqatwar, before their string of hits in the 90s.

David Dhawan's career

A prolific filmmaker, David Dhawan began his journey as a student of acting at the FTII in the 70s. He started as an editor in Saaransh, before making his directorial debut in 1989 with Taaqatwar. He has since directed 45 films in a career spanning 37 years. His upcoming film, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, stars Varun Dhawan alongside Pooja Hegde and Mrunal Thakur. The film is set to release in theatres on 5 June.