I wouldn’t call myself a star: Varun Dhawan

Varun Dhawan says that establishing a connect with the audience will always be of importance for him.

Varun Dhawan, whose fan following seems to have increased following his latest release Main Tera Hero, wants to avoid calling himself a “star”. He says that establishing a connect with the audience will always be of importance for him.

Main Tera Hero is a success and you now seem to have fans from all age groups.

Very honestly, the hero in this film is my father David Dhawan. We promoted the film like crazy. Nowadays, the pressure on an actor to market a film is excruciating. There wasn’t so much pressure to promote my first film Student Of The Year. Dharma Productions was the hero of that film and Karan Johar was there with the three of us - Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and me to promote the film. Karan made sure everything went right. With MTH, the pressure was fully on me to sell the film to the audience.

It couldn’t have been an easy place to be in.

There were times when I had to force my eyelids apart. But when I saw those expectant crowds at the promotional events just waiting for a glimpse of the actors, one couldn’t go in front of them all droopy and tired.

Is this the hallmark of a true star?

I wouldn’t call myself a star. Not now, not ever. I’m here because I love the movies. I am not here to make money. By God’s grace I don’t have to worry about my next 4,000 meals. At the same time, I am not here to do charity either. But my relationship with the audience will always be more important than all other considerations.

You seem to have established the same kind of connect with the audience as Govinda did in your father’s films. Does that comparison annoy you?

Not at all. If anything, it is unfair to an actor of Govinda’s stature and durability. At the same time, I do realise that all newcomers are compared with established actors. And because MTH is a full-on David Dhawan film, the kind that my father did with Govinda, the comparisons are inevitable.

You come from a totally ‘filmy’ background. Is that an advantage?

I am not too sure. Today the sur (tone) of cinema has changed beyond recognition. Things are gradually changing. We don’t know whether the future of Indian cinema is going to be Dabangg, Rowdy Rathore and MTH or is it going to be Queen and The Lunchbox... we don’t know.

Which cinema would you rather be part of?

I am greedy. I want to do both. Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya is a very real film in which I play a working-class Punjabi guy. I feel as an actor I should explore everything there is to explore. I am consciously choosing roles that are different.