I too had my share of struggle: Varun Dhawan
Varun Dhawan, who was in Lucknow recently to promote his film, ‘Sui Dhaaga’, said that Indian cinema was always more about family stories.
Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma are busy promoting their first film together, ‘Sui Dhaaga’, which they claim to be unconventional, yet a complete family entertainer.
Varun Dhawan, who was in Lucknow recently to promote his film, ‘Sui Dhaaga’, in the city, said that Indian cinema was always more about family stories, “My childhood was all about watching films with the entire family, so that is my focus now. Though I have catered to the younger audience, especially children, in all my earlier films, things changed for me from ‘Badlapur’. I realised that as an actor you need to be taken seriously by the entire audience.
“‘Badlapur’ was a totally different story by Sriram Raghavan and then ‘October’ with Shoojit was serious yet had a different essence. Then both directors have totally different styles of film-making but I was equally content as an actor. I feel commercial films are physically more demanding; you also have to look good and deliver, so they are equally exhausting,” Varun said.
Since his debut in ‘Student of the Year’, the young actor has given a string of hits. And so, expectations are always high from all his films. “Yes! There are expectations always but you know what the end product will be. Also, I focus more on playing different characters instead of the banner or maker of the film. I always got to work with directors who were either new, or were going through a lean patch in their careers. But I regret none of them as all those films worked wonders for me.”
His last film ‘October’ drew him rave reviews both from the critics as well as the audience, “October was certainly a conscious decision. It was the type of film I always wanted to do somewhere in the back of my mind.
“When I started in the industry, it wasn’t easy at all, as I faced rejections in films as well as commercials. At one point, I thought I would never get a film and then thankfully ‘SOTY’ happened and I got a break. And then I was only considered for out-and-out commercial films till ‘Badlapur’ gave me the right break. So, I too had my share of struggle.”
In his upcoming film, ‘Sui Dhaaga’, directed by Sharat Katariya, he plays an ambitious young man from a small town, who has seen multiple failures in life. Talking about his character, he said, “Mauji is a tailor, embroiderer and a handyman who dreams of setting up his own business and graduate from ‘unemployed to self-employed’ with complete support from his wife (Anushka Sharma). The character’s sense of optimism is reflected in his favourite phrase, “It’s all good.”
Varun’s preparation for the part included learning tailoring and going through rigorous accent-training under actor Mahesh Sharma (Dum Laga Ke Haisha fame). “Mahesh worked with me extensively for two months for every scene,” he added. “I worked on the sewing machine for three months. I made sure that they did not just take close-ups of my hand and wanted them to shoot the whole thing. In fact, I have learned stitching so well that I made a shirt for my father (producer/director David Dhawan).”
Asked about the probability of Varun and Anushka working together again, he said, “Yes we both discussed that maybe she should take me in her next home production. And so we are waiting for a right script before that happens.”
