Why Varun Dhawan is not afraid of failure

Varun Dhawan is expanding his horizon with each of his projects — be it ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’, ‘October’ or the recent release ‘Kalank’, which has become the highest opener of 2019 so far. The actor says he treats each project as a challenge, and pushes himself to improve his craft.

“I am not scared of failure, but each movie is a challenge. I work harder with each project and try and improve my work constantly,” said Dhawan.

After back-to-back successes, the actor says experimenting with one’s craft comes as a bigger risk.

“It’s definitely a bigger risk because it is a different experience for me. I think that showing your experience is more important and reaching the audience is essential,” added the actor, who is associated with Skybags and features in the “Always a Star” campaign.

But he prefers not to think much about failure.

“Failure and success come with every occupation and the film industry is no different. I believe that what goes around comes around. Bad things happen, followed by better things.”

The younger of the two sons of director David Dhawan, the actor entered Bollywood with ‘Student of the Year’ in 2012. He worked as an assistant director to Karan Johar on the 2010 drama ‘My Name Is Khan’.

From playing the role of a small town boy in ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ to getting the act right in dance film ‘ABCD 2’ to the dark and gritty ‘Badlapur’ to the subtle ‘October’ to fun films such as ‘Dilwale’, ‘Dishoom’, ‘Main Tera Hero’ and ‘Judwaa 2’ — he has aced his performance in each of the projects.

Hollywood star Dwayne Johnson has been an inspiration in his life as he navigated the world of glitz and glamour.

“Dwayne Johnson was my main inspiration before I stepped into the industry. I have always admired his work and creativity,” he said.

Dhawan is back on the big screen, this time in an intense avatar as Zafar in ‘Kalank’. The Abhishek Varman directorial, a period drama, registered business of Rs216 million (Dh11.4 million) on the first day, surpassing the opening day collection of ‘Kesari’, ‘Gully Boy’ and ‘Total Dhamaal’, and has become the highest opener of 2019 so far.

According to trade expert Taran Adarsh, ‘Kalank’, which opened on Wednesday, is Dhawan’s biggest opener.

Talking about the role, he said: “I would define the entire experience as the most challenging role I have done so far. It was really challenging as I had to do all the stunts by myself like going through a wringer, me banging myself against the wall and jumping off heights.”