Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan, who made his debut in producer Karan Johar’s lavish romantic comedy Student Of The Year, was done with being called “just a pretty face”. So he did what any self-respecting actor would do next: accept the grittiest, most violent drama out there and demolish his boy-next-door image. Enter Badlapur out this Thursday in the UAE, directed by Sriram Raghavan.
“In my role as Raghu, I am doing something that I have never done before in my career … And for the record, I am not that ‘chocolate boy’. My friend also make fun of that image. There’s more to me,” said Dhawan with a shrug.
Badlapur is the story of Raghu, a mill manager who marries young, but has to go through the ordeal of his wife and child’s murder. At first he doesn’t know how to tackle his grief, but 18 years later he decides to hunt down that killer and exact revenge. Lending him support in this drama is the formidable actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui who plays the baddie, Huma Qureshi who plays a prostitute and Yami Gautam who plays Dhawan’s lover.
“We cannot say much since it’s a thriller. Every actor has a dream to work with a set of directors and be a part of certain interesting scripts. Badlapur is one such film for us. It’s not a serious film per se because the story telling has got such flair. Plus, there’s an intense love story running through the revenge plot. You will find the subtexts and layers intriguing,” said Gautam during a recent press junket in Dubai.
Dhawan, who was last seen in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya with Alia Bhatt as the amiable North Indian boy who falls in love with a Punjabi girl, jumped aboard almost immediately after the script narration.
“To work with Sriram is something that I wanted to do before I became an actor. Let me tell you, this was not some strategic decision to go into some darker space. Lots of darker films have gimmicks in them. To accept Badlapur was more emotional,” said Dhawan. Barring the debacle called AgentVinod, a spy film, Raghavan has an impeccable-but-lean record of churning out edge-of-your-seat thrillers such as Ek Hasina Thi and Johnny Gaddar.
Dhawan, who was keen to work with Raghavan, adds that he gravitated towards the film because of its unusual “common-man connect”.
“Anyone with a family or any girl who has loved a boy — whether he’s a Sri Lankan or an Indian — or all those living away from their families like some people here will be able to relate to it. Being away from family is the toughest thing that a person can go through. We explored that thread deeply,” said Dhawan. Director Raghavan, in an interview over the phone, said that he gave two different briefs to his set of actors. He gave a structured what-to-do-every-minute narration to Dhawan, while he let Siddiqui improvise and make his scenes his own.
“Nawaz and Varun are from different schools of acting … With Varun, he plays a solitary person with lots going on in his head. He speaks little but we still had to convey the emotions in his head. So that required a precise approach. With Nawaz, I let him take the lead.” While the cast of Badlapur are hesitant to speak about their roles due to the fear of giving the plot away, ask Siddiqui why he chose to be a part of Badlapur and he says, “Two words: Huma Qureshi”.
“In my first film with her she ended up calling me her brother and it was important that I change that,” said Siddiqui with a laugh.
All that’s known about his role is that he’s a criminal rotting away in jail.
“Badlapur is what we call a twisted entertainer. There’s one scene where I am in jail and it’s been at least five or six years since I have seen a female. And I am on this telephone with Huma and she asks me to speak dirty to her. She kept saying ‘Gandi baat kar’ [speak dirty]. But the irony is that he can only talk since there’s a mirror separating them. This film has gone to those spaces that a Bollywood film rarely goes to,” said Siddiqui in Hindi. Some part of him understood the predicament that he was in.
“Even in real life, I don’t how some men flirt effortlessly. It takes me at least two years to tell a woman that I like her in real life. So I got what made him tick and somehow empathised with him. All that helped in carving out my character,” said Siddiqui, an actor with tremendous indie-film credit. His role as the limping pimp in Talaash and as the amiable employee in The Lunchbox has made him an actor to be reckoned with.
Badlapur releases during the Cricket World Cup, so are the producers Eros International and Dinesh Vijan, worried that it will have an impact on their film’s collection?
“We come from a nation who loves cricket and films. And as far as I know, India is playing only on Sunday, two days after our film releases. Because it’s the early phase of world cup, we will be OK,” said Vijan. Dhawan quickly pitches in with: “World cup is actually lucky for me. Main Tera Hero released when India vs Sri Lanka match was on during Twenty20, Humpty Sharma released during the Football World Cup. But it didn’t effect my films.”
However, Dhawan who claims to have not employed a stunt double for any of the action scenes, hopes his latest attempt would be loved by his fans.
“This film took a toll on all of us because we were feeling the emotions of angst and fury closely. I can vouch that we worked very hard to bring alive the concept of struggle. Now, I make it a point not to talk about the exact process because all actors go through it. All I want to do is to make the audience feel that they haven’t wasted their time watching us. I hope to entertain and it would be great if they love what we do.”
Don’t miss it!
Badlapur releases in the UAE on February 19.
