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Cover Story - Varun Dhawan
Can Varun Dhawan Get Back His Winning Streak with Coolie No1? Varun Dhawan was on a dream run in his film career as a hero with eight back-to-back superhits. Until the flop of Sui Dhaaga: Made in India and Kalank jinxed his success rate. Will Coolie No 1 be the winning goal that will pip him back to the winning post? Sumita Chakraborty analyses…
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He was touted to be the “next superstar” after the Khans who would rule Tinsel Town. And why, not! He was Bollywood’s chocolate boy who had eight back-toback hits from the time he debuted in KJo’s Student Of The Year (SOTY). In fact, after his debut, Alia Bhatt and he were the only ones who flew soaring high and were pegged to be the next big things in the Hindi Film Industry. And for that matter, he did live up to all the flowery prophesies as his next eight films after SOTY – Main Tera Hero, Humpy Sharma Ki Dulhania, Badlapur, ABCD2, Dilwale, Dishoom, Badrinath Ke Dulhania and Judwa 2 - became huge blockbusters at the Box office. Indeed, it was a home run for him with 100 percent success rate and he soon became one of the highest paid actors in Bollywood. Along with it, came name, fame and success, so of course, he had an enviable fan following and soon became the poster boy of the nation.
Yes, we are talking about the charismatic Varun Dhawan who in a short span of time had placed himself in an enviable position in the film industry. Of course, the naysayers kept nattering about ‘nepotism’ and that Varun being the son of popular director David Dhawan, had got everything on a platter. Agreed, getting instant success with a debut film marketed and packaged to perfection like Varun’s SOTY was no big deal but keeping that successful streak running through eight back-to-back films was definitely a stellar feat for the young lad to celebrate. In an interview given to Stardust January 2018, Varun when asked what his success mantra was, had told me, “I am passionate about my work and I give it my all.” He further elaborated in another interview, “Having contacts in the industry does not guarantee a movie. I agree it was much easier for me because I had a platform but you may know many people in the industry and they will ask you to come to their office, offer coffee, but not a movie. So if Karan didn’t see anything in me he wouldn’t have cast me. Being a star son only doesn’t help.” But what did put Varun in a winning position was that he was a producer and a director-friendly actor who didn’t have airs or an attitude, and more importantly, the audience loved him. Perhaps that’s what helped him coast his way through so many milestones until the law of averages caught up with him. At this point, we must add that this young man despite the heady success hovering around him, refused to confine himself only to his comfort zone despite it being extremely successful. Instead he met directors who believed in good content rather than successful cinema and asked them if he could work with them. Shoojit Sarkar, the director of October, averred, “Varun walked into my office for the first time and within 10-15 minutes, I knew he was right for my character. He is a simple, down to earth, humble actor who is hungry to do stimulating work.” October garnered a lot of critical acclaim; however, it wasn’t a blockbuster hit like Varun Dhawan’s other films. But since Varun was appreciated in this film, it didn’t create too much of a dent on his flawless record.
But what did irreparable damage to the young Dhawan’s unbreakable record was ” Sui Dhaaga: Made in India and the baap of all flops Kalank. Sui Dhaaga: Made in India was another film that Varun dared to star in despite it being completely opposite of a typical commercial masala film that Varun normally did. It spoke volumes about this young lad’s commitment to good cinema. However, the experiment didn’t work despite Sui Dhaaga: Made in India being acclaimed as a good film. In fact, Varun himself insists that his father David Dhawan had tears of joy watching the film. Varun recalls, “Aditya Chopra, Virat Kohli and dad loved the film. I did Sui Dhaaga for my parents. Growing up as a kid, I had loved films like Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.” However, the audience rejected the film outright maybe because it was not ready to accept Varun in a different avatar or maybe the reason was simple, Sui Dhaaga was extremely slow and dragged in parts. Also, perhaps Varun changing gears confused the audience and that’s why Sui Dhaaga: Made in India had a bit of a hesitant response. Varun conceded in an interview, “I do mass entertainers to please my audience. But I also love my films Badlapur, October and Sui Dhaaga: Made In India. They taught me a lot. They helped me get in touch with things I feared I’d lose.” But still the so-called dubbed Hero No 1 managed to dust the failure off his magical coat and move ahead. Even at that point, Varun had not really come face to face with the dark face of failure as the audience still loved their Hero No 1. …Until the colossal flop Kalank became the kalank of his career. This was the first time Varun actually came face to face with the dreaded sooty blackness of failure and it really demoralised him. He openly conceded that he had failed and said honestly, “Kalank was not accepted by the audience because it was a bad film. Somewhere we all collectively failed.” When asked if it affected him, Varun said in an interview, “Yes, it affected me. The film wasn’t liked by the audience and it deserved not to do well. It is very clear if the audience likes a film it should do well and they did not like Kalank. It is a learning for me. I have processed it and learnt what I had to from it and I am taking it in stride.” He further added, “Sometimes something doesn’t work and then overall things go wrong. It is for the first time I went through a failure and it had to affect me. If it did not affect me, it would mean I don’t love my films. I love my films to death. I am glad it affected me.” However, before the young actor could get bogged by the failure of Kalank, his friends and family whisked him away to Thailand to rejuvenate and replenish and move on. Leaving the kalank of Kalank behind, the actor insisted that he was in a good space and was looking forward to his next releases Street Dance 3D and Coolie No 1. Perhaps it was the onset of the lockdown but Street Dance 3D did not get all that great a response from the audience and that got the young actor perhaps a little worried.
He then put all his eggs in one basket and decided Coolie No 1 was going to be the film that would break the jinx. After a spate of ” flops, Varun desperately needed a hit and he pegged Coolie No1 to be that comeback film that would get his success streak back again. Coolie No 1 is produced by Vasu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani and Deepika Bhagnani Deshmukh and directed by Varun’s father David Dhawan, the director with the Midas touch for masala films. This film was a typical masala film that Varun was famous for. It had the time-tested winning formula that had proved to be successful for Varun before. So there was no reason for it not to be successful this time. However, Varun was not leaving things to chance or the time tested winning formula alone. The entire crew worked double hard on the look and the feel of the film. Songs with super energy and zing were added and released with a lot of fanfare.
Already Teri Bhabhi Khadi hain and Husnn Hain Suhana have gone on to be super hits. Varun too started the promotions rather aggressively until corona, the great leveller, caught him unaware and he had to go into isolation after testing Covid positive. However, even in isolation, Varun made sure his social media team were working double hard to promote Coolie Number 1. And the response seems to be catching on like wildfire. Tips officially announced that the most viewed song of 2020 in 24 hours was Husnn Hai Suhana from Coolie No 1. Indeed, the response to Coolie No 1 from the critics and the audience has been positive. So it does look as if Varun can get back to his winning position. So will Coolie No 1 finally break the jinx for Varun Dhawan? Perhaps yes! But then again as so many filmmakers have realised to their own folly that there’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and lip. So until the film finally releases on Amazon Prime on December 25, 2020 and the audience gives it a thumbs up, Varun will have to be on tenterhooks. Our fingers are crossed too after all we too love the energy, attitude and humility of the Dhawan boy. So go for it Varun! We are rooting for you too!
