Aditya Chopra once refused to cast Varun Dhawan in big-budget action film

Mumbai: Varun Dhawan on Tuesday revealed that he once asked Aditya Chopra to cast him in an action film but the producer turned him down saying the actor was not “at that place” yet to justify the budget required to make a good movie in the genre.

Dhawan, who is leading the India chapter of a global spy series “Citadel” with “Citadel: Honey Bunny” opposite Samantha Ruth Prabhu, revealed the story during the trailer launch of the Prime Video show.

“During lockdown, I met Aditya Chopra, he was playing badminton, and Maneesh Sharma was there. They were making ‘Tiger’ (3) at that time. I asked him, ‘Why don’t you make an action film with a younger talent?’. He was like, ‘I want to give you acting roles, and don’t want to give you action (roles)’. I kept pursuing it,” Dhawan said.

“He (Chopra) was like, ‘I can’t do that because I can’t give you that budget right now. You’re not at that place where I can give you such a big budget’. I kept thinking and then I messaged him and asked him, ‘What is the budget?’ And he gave me a figure, that this is the budget you need to make something big in action.”

Dhawan said when “Honey Bunny” came his way, the first question he asked creators Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK of “The Family Man” and “Farzi” fame, and Amazon Prime Video was about its budget.

“…Because I got this knowledge from Aditya Chopra that you need this much budget to make something look good in action. I’m grateful to Amazon and Raj & DK for giving us this platform because that is needed to make something look big, to make actors look larger than life.”

Dhawan, who is set to star in Atlee-produced “Baby John”, said he is grateful to South filmmakers for giving him the opportunity to explore the action genre and hoped that Bollywood also takes note.

“I had a great time (doing action). It is a wake-up call, and hopefully, a lot of people take notice of this. Right now, I feel only South Indians are taking notice of me and giving me great opportunities in action, which is true. I started working with Raj & DK, and Sam, and next, I’m working with Atlee and Keerthy (Suresh, actress). Hopefully, that will lead the way for other people in our industry to give me (action roles),” he said.

“Citadel: Honey Bunny”, set in the 90s, is billed as a riveting narrative that fuses a love story with action beats.

The Hindi series, also starring Kay Kay Menon, Saqib Saleem, and Sikander Kher, will premiere on November 7 on Prime Video.

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