I NEEDED OCTOBER: VARUN

Varun Dhawan is at the peak of his career, and h barely any bad results ind him, he’s taking the nces and not playing safe his choices. After delivera hit with Judwaa 2, the will now be seen in Shoojit s October. ojit and Juhi ( Chaturvedi) put everything in the film — eir personal experiences, passion for cinema and dedication; everything. I was the last to be cast in the film. It was B a n i t a ( S a n d h u ) who was cast first. I think this is the right way to get an ensemble for the film, where the motivation isn’t to pick someone who is doing well ( commercially),” he explains.

“Shoojit cast me before Judwaa 2 and Badrinath Ki Dulhania released. We were on talks since then,” adds Varun. “When he narrated the film to me and told me why he wants to make it, I was so moved. Honestly, I need this film the most in my career. More than anyone else does.”

Shoojit, who has earlier done the light- hearted Vicky Donor, says that Varun didn’t come with any baggage. “I had a different perception ( of him) altogether. It was one of the people who become stars overnight and have a crazy fan following. It’s something that I’m not used to. I’m used to my kind of cinema. If people like it, I’m happy. If they don’t, I’m happy anyway because I got to tell them my story.”

About Varun, he adds, “I asked him ‘ Will you surrender yourself and are you honest?’ I asked him to be himself in the movie. I asked him to not check his phone — as was his habit — the first thing in the morning, to prepare for the movie. Instead, I told him to go and sit in front of a plant and watch it for 10 minutes. That was his job.”

In October, Varun will be seen playing the role of a sweet, mischievous young man, trying to get into the hospitality industry. He says, “The movie is based on honesty. I couldn’t do anything else that I do in other films. I couldn’t take my shirt off, couldn’t act cute… I stopped applying make up too, and still he

( Shoojit) would come and say ‘ Make it a little less’.”