He tasted stardom right at the beginning of his career, a feat that is achieved only by a handful of stars in Bollywood. Varun Dhawan has been steadily receiving the love and affection of millions from his ‘Student Of The Year’ days. While for many debutants this might still be a dream, for Varun it’s a reality that he has been living since his debut days.
The man has enjoyed success in a manner that no other actor has. Over the time he has proved how versatile he is as an actor and has tried his hands at a variety of roles in just a little time, proving just that.
Four out of his 10 films in his six-year-old career have already entered 100 crore club. While it took around two to three decades for the Khans and the Kapoors to reach that level of fame, Varun, on the other hand, did the impossible in a quick span of time.
Varun’s Bollywood journey actually follows a non-linear pattern. He first became a star, enjoyed the fame and then transformed into an exceptional actor, proving he was good in everything!
The First Break- ‘SOTY’
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He started his journey with Karan Johar’s ‘Student Of The Year’. Being launched in B-town wasn’t a difficult task for him, being David Dhawan’s son. He had a godfather who had the podium set for him. Along with him, it was Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra who made their debut in the film industry in the same movie.
Millenial’s Govinda
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While most debutants look for films after their first one, Varun was seen after a gap of two years with father David Dhawan’s directorial – ‘Main Tera Hero’. The film wasn’t an extraordinary one, but his comic-timing was enough to make numbers at the box office and impress the audience. Sreenath aka Seenu was different than Rohan Nanda and that was enough to give viewers a glimpse of his talent. In fact, Varun became the millennial’s Govinda.
Then Came Varun The Actor
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2015, established Varun Dhawan as an actor. Well, we already knew he could deliver a commercially successful film, but with ‘Badlapur’ his image as an artist changed. He wasn’t just an entertainer anymore, he was more than that. He was an actor who understood his craft, who got into the skin of his character and connected with the audience instantly. His portrayal of Raghu, a miserable man shattered with the loss of his wife and son, out for revenge, was nothing but an example of sheer talent.
After being part of two different movies playing a rom-com role, watching him hungry for vengeance surprised many. And what made him earn peoples’ respect was the way he stood his ground despite having an actor like Nawazuddin Siddiqui against him.
When Nawaz can easily take away the spotlight from someone like SRK in ‘Raees’, doing the same with Varun wouldn’t have been difficult. But it was absolutely thrilling to see how Varun held his own, transforming from the candyfloss hero in ‘SOTY’ to a force to be reckoned with in ‘Badlapur’, one who could stand shoulder to shoulder with seasoned performers like Nawaz.
The Dancing Star
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Then came Remo D’Souza’s ‘ABCD 2’ in 2015, where we saw Varun dancing up a storm and putting his heart and soul into his character. From stepping into the shoes of a professional dancer to being hailed for his performance, Varun was continuously proving the naysayers wrong that he was not just a product of nepotism. ‘ABCD 2’ was his first movie that entered the 100 crore club.
Paying The Price For Bad Scripts
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In the same year came ‘Dilwale’. A movie that marked the comeback of the iconic duo of Kajol and SRK. However, the movie tanked and the horrific script is to be blamed for it. But despite being a flop, it easily whopped 100 crores at the box office just because it was a King Khan movie.
What followed next was another movie with John Abraham. Nor did the film fare well nor was Varun appreciated for his work. As critics began attacking him for the string of flops, it was becoming evident that he was paying the price of choosing bad scripts.
Going Big In 2017
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If Sreenath made us laugh, Humpty on the other side was the total filmy hero that the masses loved to watch. After ‘Main Tera Hero’ came ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’, which was a tribute to Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’. Alia Bhatt and Varun’s crackling chemistry did wonders on-screen. Not only did it get massive praise from the critics, but it also made big bucks at the box office. With this, he proved he could easily slip into different roles and do justice to the characters. This became his second 100 crore movie and then he got his third one last year with ‘Judwaa 2’. 2017 changed the entire game for Varun, making him the most bankable actor of the present generation.
The Show Goes On
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In 2018, Varun appeared in Shoojit Sircar’s ‘October’, a movie that has got the entire nation talking about his brilliant acting. The movie which released recently wasn’t a cliché sappy love story but a story of profound love. Varun is being showered with praises for his most recent work and we couldn’t agree more. And now we will be seeing him soon in ‘Sui-Dhaaga’ with Anushka Sharma.
The Check List:
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Rom-Com, check!
Versatility, Check!
A Great dancer, check!
Dark roles, check!
Intense actor, check!
All in all, we can say that Varun might be a nepotism baby, but the man has come a long way from that tag proving his worth and has built his career graph on his own terms and conditions.
In a time when getting people into the theatres is a tough job, his name is enough to fill the halls up, something that even Khans can’t do anymore. He has worked hard and has shown the world that he is more than just a star kid, and is a real star indeed.