Exclusive: You will see a different individual, and not Varun Dhawan, in Badlapur: Varun

Varun Dhawan has a disarming smile - one that is key to his armory of personal charm & a winning persona. With ‘Badlapur’ this quiet but definite rising star of Bollywood moves away from froth & frolic to a transformative role. Here, a tentatively excited Varun fills AK on playing ‘Raghu’ for Raghavan!

I have seen a video of you at Ramjas College, Delhi University. You raked up frenzy on a campus that rarely celebrates film stars with such enthusiasm. Indian Ocean is more their cup of tea. That you have such a big fan following, in Delhi- was that surprising?

It actually came as a huge surprise to my producer, Dinesh Vijan (of ‘Badlapur). He was surprised that for a film like ‘Badlapur’, something like this was happening! This was the first day of film promotions, technically, after our visit to the Golden Temple (Amritsar).

To be honest, Delhi is a very special place for me. Be it time that I have spent in the city during my childhood, or making ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya’, I just feel like I have a special connection with Delhi. I get drawn to the city and connect with its youth. I also very connected to the crowd at that time. I had a great time, a simply amazing time being on stage here!

“Badlapur’ was a surprise choice, and it becomes even more so because you have picked a very dark film at an early stage of your career. Now that the film has created sufficient buzz, do you feel satisfied?

Buzz is a funny word isn’t it (smiles). But you never know how much is good or bad buzz for a film, really. How do you gauge the kind of buzz that a film makes before it release? When it gets closer to release, people do tend to get insecure and believe that ‘we need buzz’. (Smiles)

I think, with this film, the only time I feel good is when I am around my director Sriram Raghavan. I like to get his opinion. When I am alone or am doing an interview on ‘Badlapur’, I only hope that I am not misrepresenting the film.

But it will be definitely be a positive sign if a young actor like you gets accepted in this role.

This is what is very unnerving, like this question you asked! People are already speaking about ‘acceptance’ without the film releasing. I am not used to this! A teaser is out and just one song and not much more have been seen yet.

This has been a big challenge for me- playing an older man, and convincing people in doing that. I play a man who is tormented by his past. That’s what I tell people that on 20 February- you are not going to come and see Varun Dhawan. You will be meeting a different individual. I wouldn’t call him a gentleman but his name is Raghu (smiles).

This role does set you apart from the contemporaries- the effort itself. Was that a conscious choice you made?

I remember my very first interview with Pinkvilla, where I was asked as to that is my favourite actor. And I had said Christian Bale. I spoke about his film ‘American Psycho’. When you like something, you probably go down that path. I loved watching Val Kilmer in the ‘Doors’, or Bale in ‘The Machinist’; he lost so much weight; or Neeraj Kavi losing so much weight for ‘Ship of Thesus’. When you hear of these things, they all sound so wonderful.

Somewhere, the inspiration has come from all of this. For ‘Badlapur’ though, if you ask me, I don’t know what I have done. The 40 days that I shooting for ‘Badlapur’, was like a trip. Now I don’t even want to remember what happened, I don’t want to go back!

I read a comment of yours whereby you mentioned that for ‘Badlapur’ , you haven’t been in touch with Alia Bhatt & Sidharth Malhotra. You said that you have lost touch with most friends. Has that happened?

You know I said so many other things that don’t get printed (smiles). Its just that when you mention people from the film industry that gets reported as these are known to the world. I was distant from all my friends including those that are not part of the film industry. Categorically, I wont name any actor now. I got detached from my parents while shooting for ‘Badlapur’. What bigger detachment can a child have! That was very difficult as my mother was worried; she often didn’t know where I was. Sriram has these techniques is all I can tell you. When I look back at it, this phase of being detached, I know it was one of his techniques.

When Aamir Khan selectively spoke to the media about ‘PK’, he clarified that he doesn’t consciously seek to make a 100 crore film. Much as it quite prevalent in Bollywood to make 100 crore films, when you have a ‘Badlapur’ is up for release, do you feel the pressure for it to make serious money?

Not at all. I think the whole nature of this film is that lets make a good film and not worry about the money. Economically, this film has been structured in such a way that it does not need to make enormous money to be very successful. We’ve made it at a very small budget- it has cost 25 crores inclusive of publicity and advertising. Obviously, I do look into the success of the film, but these clubs (100 crore club) don’t matter to me at all. Quality and content of the film matters and making people happy matters.

You’ve finished shooting for ‘ABCD 2’ soon. That’s again a transformation from your dark character in ‘Badlapur’ right?

Oh yeah, it’s a big transformation! In ‘ABCD 2’, I don’t know about myself. I know Shraddha will be a surprise package. I have seen how well she has danced. Second thing is that the whole film has been shot in actual 3D. So the visual aspect of the film is special. It’s a group film. I wouldn’t like to take credit for it alone. When the whole group dances in 3D, people are going to say that they have not seen anything like this on Indian screens before.

About the films that your name has been linked to…

Hmmm… Lets clear that.

Are you a part of ‘Side Hero’?

No.

Are you doing Rohit Shetty’s next film with SRK?

No Comments (smile). Most of the films that I have been said to be part of are rumors. I will be acting in ‘Dhishoom’, and I am acting in a Dharma film.

But what kind of roles are you looking at? Are you open to all kind of roles?

I want to do new stuff. I don’t want to repeat myself. I just want to try out new kinds of roles that haven’t been done always. I just feel content when its new- it’s better & its more exciting.

Your keenness to do new roles is a bit contradictory to your father, David Dhawan’s style of work. We see him reinterpret comedy each time over. Do we see him working with him again soon?

100 per cent. I am not saying that doing what my father does is not great. That in itself is an art and it’s difficult to do that. And he is great at it. So I like to work with the masters of genre. I began with a romantic comedy by Karan Johar. I worked with David Dhawan in a comedy. For a thriller, I have worked with Sriram Raghavan. I think Shashank who has made Humpty is amazing at human relationships. Same thing with Remo D’Souza- I have worked with him in ABCD 2 as he has mastered dance and choreography.

So I would like to stick to the masters. My directors mean everything to me.