Varun Dhawan talks about his metamorphosis in Sriram Raghavan's 'Badlapur'

Mumbai: Sriram Raghavan’s dark uncompromising drama ‘Badlapur’ has taken the internet by storm after the release of its 2-minute trailer featuring the ‘chocolate boy’ Varun Dhawan in  a gruesome avatar. Only three films old, Varun always felt that his character in his first three films was an extension of himself, but his role as Raghu in the crime drama is something completely different. He had to become a totally different person.

At the trailer launch, Varun elaborated he was inspired by popular television shows like Breaking Bad, Dexter and Fargo to get into character for the dark role. Even his rugged look in the film was rumoured to be inspired by Shahid Kapoor’s drastic transformation in the recent ‘Haider’. However Varun explained that he plays the role of a man from Maharashtra, and the rugged look is a part of his character as it ages over a period of years in the film. Infact his look was inspired by his elder brother Rohit, since the makers assumed that is exactly what Varun would look like as he grows older.

Tranforming from a boy to a man, Varun will be seen playing the role of a father in the film while his better half will be played by the lovely Yami Gautam. The film will also feature Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Divya Dutta, Vinay Pathak and Radhika Apte. The teaser featured a steamy kiss shared between Varuna and Divya Dutta. Given the age difference between the two, Varun was asked how comfortable he was with the bold scene. “Very comfortable, why not? Look at Divya, how sexy she is!”, quips the young actor. 

But that wasn’t the only talking point of the teaser; we also got a view of Varun’s six-pack. You’d be surprised to know Varun went through no special diet or training for the role, in fact he was asked to stop training while shooting for the film.

Given the nature of the film, director Sriram Raghavan said he is completely prepared for and A certificate from the Censor Board. But he would be extremely happy if the film gets certified U/A, which would help reach out to more audience.  Commenting on the same Varun said, “Obviously all of us would love for people to see it. Even a 12-year-old could watch the film. You have shows like Breaking Bad and Dexter coming on prime time television today. It depends on the Censor but the only strategy is to appeal to people’s hearts because we made it for them.”

Varun’s mother Karuna who was also present at the trailer launch was asked if he was anything like his character at home. To which she said, “He definitely brought the character back. There were times that I used to feel that he has changed and is no longer my son. And if he had a knife, he would stab me. He went through a total metamorphosis which scared me.  But I think it’s for the best of the film.”