Sporting a fluorescent yellow hoodie, Varun Dhawan is hard to miss during Sui Dhaaga: Made in India’s promotions at the Yash Raj Films office in Andheri. Dhawan seems rather subdued owing to an aching ankle that he gingerly shifts about. As soon as he wraps up his interviews, Dhawan reveals, that he’ll be heading to Ghatkopar to shake a leg for a celebration. “Once I see the crowd, I’ll get excited,” Dhawan grins.
A quick glance over the actor’s six years in front of the camera will reflect this sentiment. Dhawan enjoys being a crowd-puller and thrives in mass entertainers. He turned into the archetypical Bollywood hero in Main Tera Hero (2014), paid tribute to one of the industry’s most popular love stories with Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania (2014) and delivered a blockbuster with Judwaa 2 (2017). The 31-year-old actor has been taking risks with drastically different roles – from a merciless Raghav in Badlapur (2015) to the rather restrained and sincere Dan in October (2018).
Tailoring talent
The actor is diversifying his more unconventional roles – with the Sharat Katariya directed Sui Dhaaga that sees Dhawan don the avatar of the lower middle class character – Mauji. Dhawan stresses that the film will not be heavy-handed with its themes of aspirations and struggles but will instead be a celebration of Mauji and Mamta’s (his wife played by Anushka Sharma) journey. “This film has comedy, action, drama, tragedy, everything!” rattles off Dhawan.
Despite this heady mix of elements, the actor shares that in becoming an unostentatious man from Chanderi meant Dhawan had to imbue a sense of reticence into his otherwise humorous and light-hearted character. Pivotal to this transformation, apart from a workshop, were Dhawan’s tailoring classes.
“I grew a new respect for the skill. It’s genuinely an art,” he shares, “I [appreciate] the detailing in clothes.” The actor even laughingly admits to acquiring an eccentricity– that of inspecting the margins in all his clothes.
Broad appeal
Discussing Mauji, Dhawan says that he believes the character is a “mass” character. “‘Mass’ – I’ve been hearing the word since my childhood. ‘David Dhawan is a mass director’,” says the star about his father. “A lot of people have different ideas about India. If you want to cater to the entire country, you have to speak the language the country speaks. I think Mauji is a character everyone in India can relate to – he is the common man of India.”
Dhawan often found himself borrowing details from his surroundings during the filming of Sui Dhaaga . “Shooting in Chanderi brought about so much character,” he shares. “There was this small boy who would run behind me and do this –” the actor clicks his tongue and salutes with a beaming smile. “It was just so endearing so [it’s] something my character does,” says the actor.
The shoot wasn’t easy, and Dhawan shares that for three days Sharma and he had to cycle under the blazing sun. “I was pedalling, she was on the back seat and we had to fall down. It was on very rocky terrain, and we had to miss a moving truck,” he shakes his head just recollecting the tricky takes.
Mind the gap
After Sui Dhaaga , Varun Dhawan will be seen in Abhishek Varman’s Kalank with a cast that includes Alia Bhatt, Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt, and Sonakshi Sinha. Ask Dhawan if he has a plan for the kind of films he wants to be involved in, and he says, “I look for films that have an everlasting experience. Guide (1965) is a film that will impact you even today. Even Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958) – the way some pieces are constructed in that film are amazing!”
Dhawan recognises that he draws audiences but says his more experimental choices are not burdened by a responsibility to change the crowds. “It’s about taste palates,” he says. “It is a conscious thing that [ Sui Dhaaga ] can hopefully bridge gaps,” he shares about the distinct audiences that consume alternative and mainstream cinema. Much like the margins in garments, there is scope for change there.
