I told Shoojitda, ‘Calcutta should be the first city we go to to promote October’. But Shoojitda wants to go after the film has released and once people have experienced October. And he’s right... October is more than a film, it’s an experience,” said Varun Dhawan, right after we said ‘hi’ to him on phone on Monday evening. His April 13 film directed by Shoojit Sircar has created quite a buzz already and over the next 25 minutes, Varun chatted about becoming Dan, how October is the “much-needed oxygen” in his filmography and why he isn’t chasing a career any more. 

October is that rare Bollywood film that has left so much unsaid in the trailer. The intrigue is so high that you seem to have a winner already...

Thank you so much! I think that was a conscious effort by Shoojitda; he wanted the trailer to be this way. Nowadays for any film, including my own films that have come out, we pretty much spell out everything in the trailer. October actually goes back to a thought where a filmmaker wants people to go and experience a film. Sometimes a friend recommends a film from some other part of the world that I don’t know much about and once I have watched it, the film becomes an experience, a whole new world.... For me, the whole idea of doing a film like October was that. And yet, because the film is so real, you may identify with parts of it. You may even go, ‘Oh my god, this is crazy!’ Because the film is inspired by real-life events. 

Shoojitda had told us it comes from a deeply personal space...

Yes, it’s from a part of his life, and when he’s ready, he should be the first one to talk about it. The only thing that I can say is that it’s extremely brave of him and Juhi (Chaturvedi, the film’s writer) to write this film. It really takes a lot of guts to put such a personal part of your life out there. 

What was your reaction when he offered you October?

It’s in a very different space from what you have done so far... You know, I really hope I have done him proud. When I first heard the story, I was like, ‘How am I going to do this?! It’s going to be very difficult for me to pull this off.’ I was scared how to convince people that such a story is possible... that something like this could happen in anyone’s life. Then he showed me a newspaper clipping and gave me an idea of where the story had come from... and I was pretty much in shock, honestly. I couldn’t believe that a story like this had happened to someone. 

When I decided to do it, I was far from confident because I had never been offered something like this before. The kind of film October is... these are not the scripts that come to me or filmmakers even think of me for. That’s obvious, because I am known for a different kind of cinema. But the clarity that was in Shoojitda’s eyes and the conviction that he and Juhi had, I knew I was in good hands. 

As an actor, these five-six years I have been in films, I have been chasing a career... I have been chasing goals. I was pursuing a career that had started to be written for me by the media and by the fans and my loved ones. But I was not actually going after a career that I wanted. Gradually, I feel I lost sight of why I became an actor in the first place. And when October came to me, I knew immediately that this was a chance for me to get back to being the Varun I was when I was doing acting classes with (theatre guru) Barry John, theatre workshops or dance classes... all that I did to become an actor. 

With October, I came into a part of cinema that I didn’t really know very well. It was a lot of exploration, a lot of trial and error... every time a scene got done, I was apprehensive about whether I had done it right. Everyone on set would stare at me after every shot because I know everyone there had an image of me that, ‘Varun Dhawan yeh hai’. And when stuff started going right for me, everyone started seeing me differently (laughs). 

How much did you have to push yourself to become Dan?

There was this one time when Shoojitda... Shoojit Sir... left me in a hotel to greet a busload of foreign guests who had just arrived. They really thought I was a hotel staffer and I actually went and got keys for them from the hotel reception... the camera hasn’t even covered half the things I have done, but Shoojit Sir wanted me to do all this, just so I could be Dan. I even took orders for omelette and coffee and went and conveyed it to the kitchen! (Laughs) Before October, I had never been part of a process like that. 

Was there an exact moment when you felt you had become Dan?

Actually, there is. It was while shooting a highly emotional scene and I didn’t have to speak much. I can’t reveal the scene because it would give away the plot, but someone said something to me and I actually broke down. I howled for five minutes and it was the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me. It wasn’t the soft, cool kind of cry that heroes are supposed to do (laughs)... I was literally bawling. I was just so embarrassed and Shoojit Sir and Juhi came and hugged me. The best part was that everyone on set knew why I broke down... I didn’t have to explain myself. And I remember Shoojit Sir saying, ‘Right now, your eyes are exactly how I need them to be... let’s just roll this.’

Has doing this film changed you as a person in any way?

Tremendously, tremendously. A lot of people who are close to me did feel I had become strange — for want of a better word — when I was doing this film. That’s because what happens in Dan’s life is not what you would expect a 22-year-old to go through. Honestly, my life had gone upside down when I was doing this film. I was kept in isolation during that period... I was told not to sleep at all while shooting certain parts of the film. It did take a toll on me, but the time when we shot the film in Manali was wonderful... that made me feel fine again. But while shooting those 30 days in Delhi, I wasn’t myself... I felt like I was another person. I think that happens sometimes when a character gets too close to you... a part of Dan has latched on to me in a very strong way. My thinking has changed... I have changed... good or bad I don’t know... we’ll see that in the long run! (Laughs)

But yes, I can tell you that this is the most vulnerable I have been on the set of any film. There is nothing heroic about Dan... my superpower in this film is my vulnerability. I had to be this normal Dilli ka ladka who drives a bike, doesn’t get appreciated at work, he has his own quirks and his own brand of humour... and then one day he realises how short life is. He goes out to find out what true love is, even while not liking the world around him. 

Has working on this film changed your perception of love?

It has... that it truly has. I’ve realised that love is not a fairy tale (smiles wistfully and pauses). Love is definitely not what is shown in Hindi films. 

Will October influence the choices you make in films going forward?

See, I am going to be doing my share of commercial films, and unapologetically so. And honestly, October is a commercial film. Love is the most successful genre in Hindi cinema and October is essentially a film about love. But it’s not the kind of love story where you go on dates or NRI ladki-ladka hain... it’s deeper and twisted than that.
I am a very extreme human being. For me, to do a film like October, I need to reach a breaking point. When that happens to me, I grasp out for more. The last time that happened to me, I went out and did Badlapur. I delivered a lot of hits after that, but then I reached a point where I couldn’t smile any more, ya... I just couldn’t be that guy entertaining people on screen. I got burnt out because of the kind of lifestyle I was leading. I was shooting non-stop, doing award shows, I had a world tour, I had Judwaa (2) to promote... that did very well when it released. I am grateful for all these things in my life, but it wasn’t a normal lifestyle I was leading. 

I have grown up watching my father (director David Dhawan) making three films a year and I was trying to do that. That started taking a toll on me. I then realised that I needed to do something that was more real, more tangible... less materialistic. I am now at that point where I am not interested in breaking (box office) records. As an actor, October was like oxygen for me... I needed it so desperately. It was a very confusing time for me because I was doing exceedingly well... I had back-to-back hits in Badri (Badrinath Ki Dulhania) and Judwaa (2) and yet I was feeling so low. I wasn’t feeling successful, deep down inside. With October, I was part of a film where I enjoyed the process of making a film so much. Shoojitda has taken me to a place as an actor where I have never been before. 

I have to tell you that Bengalis are very deep people, ya! (Laughs) Our cameraman Avikda (Mukhopadhyay), Shoojitda, Ronnie (Lahiri) our producer... they are very deep people. It took me a while to understand where they were coming from. I’ll be very honest with you, in the beginning, I wasn’t at their level at all! (Laughs) Maturity-wise, it took me a while to get there. 

Is doing a film like Sui Dhaaga an extension of Varun 2.0?

(Laughs) Not really. I think Sui Dhaaga (directed by Sharat Katariya, produced by Yash Raj Films and co-starring Anushka Sharma) is a film based on something I feel strongly about... ‘Made in India’... dignity of labour. Sui Dhaaga is a mass, pan-India commercial film; it has a lot of humour, masala. That’s how Sharat makes his films... Dum Laga Ke Haisha was like that. I wouldn’t say Sui Dhaaga is a hatke film, though it’s been very tough to make. 

You say you aren’t interested in breaking box-office records any more, but then you have a contemporary like Tiger Shroff making Rs 25 crore with a film like Baaghi 2 on Day One. As a young actor, how do you plan to balance creative satisfaction with box-office returns? 

I wish I could give you an intelligent answer for this and sound very in-control of myself, but the truth is that I make decisions from the heart (laughs). I pick films based on instinct. It’s great that films like Baaghi 2 are doing well because the industry needs success stories and we can only make more films when money pours in from these big hits. People were dying to watch a good action film with a young hero and Baaghi 2 has given them that. 
And I am not trying to strike a balance... I am being me. I will go out and do everything... maybe even an action film. I am just not going to be restricted to one genre. I am very passionate about cinema, and I will do a hatke film when it’s made well. I am not stupid to do an indie film just because I want to be different. And I feel October will also do well at the box office; it has its budget and economics absolutely right. But it can’t be viewed as a sequel to Judwaa or ABCD. Today, if a film like October does well, it will give me so much power to do many more kinds of films. I really hope people watch it in big numbers and feel for the film as I have felt for it. I have complete faith in my audience. 

Priyanka Roy
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