Varun Dhawan kicked off his Bollywood career in 2012 with Karan Johar's Student of the Year, starring alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt. He admits that starting out with another newcomer made him feel a bit insecure.

Varun opens up

In a chat with Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube channel, Varun shared his thoughts on stepping into Bollywood for the first time. He admitted feeling a bit overwhelmed by his co-star Sidharth, who he saw as tall, muscular, and really good-looking. Varun found himself questioning whether he could stand out and be recognized.

He mentioned, “Sidharth was tall, built, and super handsome, and since there were two leads in the movie, I thought, ‘Wow, he’s incredible, and everyone’s going to be focused on him. Will anyone even notice me? What if my dream just stays a dream?’”

This feeling was made worse by the ongoing discussions about nepotism. Varun confessed, “On top of that, the negativity surrounding nepotism was really ramping up. I hadn’t mapped out my path before entering the industry; I just knew I’d worked hard and deserved a shot, but people were saying otherwise. The response wasn’t always positive, which is what people think. But I’ve had to push back against that a lot. No matter what, I’m going to keep fighting.”

As the son of filmmaker David Dhawan, Varun had to work hard to showcase his skills to the audience. He noted that once his films started to succeed, that initial perception began to change.

Varun's professional journey

Varun, the son of director David Dhawan, made his Bollywood debut as an actor in 2012 with Student of the Year. Before that, he was an assistant director for Karan Johar on the 2010 film My Name Is Khan.

After kicking off his career, he portrayed a small-town guy from Jhansi in Badrinath Ki Dulhania, nailed his moves in the dance flick ABCD 2, and ventured into the intense realm of Badlapur. He also took on more subtle roles in October and Sui Dhaga, while still enjoying lighter films like Dilwale, Dishoom, Main Tera Hero, and Judwaa 2. Most recently, he appeared in Citadel: Honey Bunny and Baby John, which hit theaters on Christmas.

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