Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan, who is the face of the UAE retail brand Iconic, doesn’t let anyone dictate his fashion choices — not even Karan Johar, his dapper mentor and powerful producer-director who introduced him to the world of films with the splashy romantic drama Student Of The Year. They are thick as thieves otherwise, but not when it comes to his personal style.
“I am the wild bird that flew from his nest. I don’t listen to him much about fashion,” said Dhawan in an interview with Gulf News tabloid!. At the time of the interview, he was wearing a stone-washed denim jacket with several pins. In Dubai earlier this month to film a commercial for Iconic, the Judwaa 2 star’s take on clothes is as uncomplicated as his affable persona.
“I do play around with style. But a philosophy that I have kept since my childhood is that I value comfort. There’s nothing like comfort and it reflects on your face. You look happy and that’s an important thing. When you are full suited-booted, your face may reflect unease. So, I have always wanted to keep things simple and easy.”
With the first pay-cheque from his film, he snapped up around 30 plain white T-shirts instead of a fancy suit. His break-the-bank fashion buy may be that stylish Gucci suit, but you will always spot Dhawan wearing a white T-shirt while travelling. But those much-scrutinised “airport looks” are something that don’t make much sense to the actor. He always looks tired and is surprised that some actors look so put-together after being mid-air for several hours. “I have decided that my airport look will be my white T-shirt … But one thing I can’t carry off are the print-on-print suits and bow ties,” said Dhawan with a laugh.
But he doesn’t take fashion lightly. Impressed with the way the Hollywood stars used fashion as a tool for women empowerment at the recent Golden Globes ceremony by opting for a black dress code, Dhawan is an advocate of using fashion to make social statements.
“Fashion can be used as a big tool to make some noise — and I totally support the movement,” said Dhawan.
He counts Hollywood heavyweights Johnny Depp and Jennifer Lawrence as his style icons. “I have watched Johnny Depp dress over the years and he’s got such a quirky sense. He’s very cool and I love the way he wears quite a few layers like mufflers, belts and chains and yet it looks like he didn’t make any effort with what he’s wearing.”
Being effortlessly chic may not be an easy space to own, but if there’s one territory that the son of director-producer Dhawan has conquered then it has to be the 2017 Bollywood box-office. His two releases last year, the twin comic caper Judwaa 2 and the romantic comedy Badrinath Ki Dulhania, did remarkably well and set the cash registers ringing.
“2017 wasn’t a great year for the film industry per se since films didn’t do well economically. But Badri released at a time when nothing was doing well, but it became one of my biggest hits. Then Judwaa 2 came at a similar time when nothing was working for over two months. It was scary going into that space, but it was my biggest hit ever. I have children coming up to me saying that they saw Judwaa 2 three times.”
When asked if the negative reviews by critics for Judwaa 2, a reboot of Salman Khan’s 1997 hit Judwaa, was a buzz kill, Dhawan claimed that he expected the critics to write off his comedy.
“The original Judwaa was also written off by critics. Since we were doing the same story, such reactions were expected. When you are doing a movie like that, all you want to do is to connect with the masses and the kids.”
But 2018 is going to spell something different for the Iconic ambassador. “I am doing a film with Shoojit Sircar and I am a part of team who have six [Indian] national awards among them. It’s such a personal film as it’s about a real-life incident. I don’t feel like talking about money when it comes to this film. It is a spiritual film, totally soul,” said Dhawan.
He’s also working with writer Sharat Katariya for Sui Dhaaga, a film that also stars actress Anushka Sharma. “When I read the script of Sui Dhaaga, I was alone in my room and I was giggling, laughing and I didn’t see any reason why I shouldn’t do that film. It has an amazing message of extolling the ‘Make In India’ concept. It’s so relevant in today’s times. I can’t ask for anything better.”
While Dhawan has been enjoying success, things are not looking up for Bollywood per se. Actors such as Deepika Padukone were issued death threats over their new release, Padmaavat. So does Dhawan feel actors were soft targets?
“It’s not just actors who are soft-targets. It is everyone today. I had this conversation with journalists the other day where they said that they are so scared of writing anything bad about an actor fearing threats. But it’s not right.
“I hope 2018 is filled with peace, love and harmony.”
